Life of Lord Courtney

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LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY

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LIFE OF
LORD COURTNEY

BY

G. P. GOOCH

AUTHOR OF

' HISTORY AND HISTORIANS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,'

"GERMANY AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION," ETC.

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1920

COPYRIGHT

DA

PREFACE

Shortly after Lord Courtney's death I accepted Lady
Courtney's request to write his life. While hghtening my
labour in every possible way and allowing me to make
unrestricted use of her Journal, she has left me an absolutely
free hand in the selection of material and the expression of
opinion. To her, to Mrs. Oliver, Lord Courtney's sister, and
to Professor George Unwin, for eight years his secretary,
I am indebted for reading the book in proof and for valuable
criticisms and suggestions.

Relations and friends have earned my gratitude by their
ready response to appeals for assistance, and I regret that
the exigencies of space have prevented the use of all the
information and comment which have been supplied. His
oldest surviving friend, Mr. William Stebbing, compiled a
brief memoir of the highest value, from which I have made
copious extracts. The Master of St. John's has kindly
examined the College books for the details of his academic
career, while Dr. Liveing, Dr. Bonney and Mrs. Bushell
have supplied personal recollections of the young Cambridge
student. Mr. William Latey has investigated his connection
with the Hardwicke Society in its earliest days, and Sir
Edward Clarke has given me his impressions of his share
in its debates. The Times has generously permitted me
to reveal Leonard Courtney's authorship of many of its
leading articles, and Sir J. Thursfield and Dean Wace have
answered questions relating to Printing House Square.

85SS54

vi LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY

Lord Fitzmaurice has described the activities of the Radical
Club, of which Mill, Fawcett and Dilke were the leading
spirits. The Rt. Hon. Thomas Burt and Lord Northboume
have recorded their recollections of the Disraeli Parhament,
and Sir Algernon West and Lord Eversley of his work at
the Treasury. In addition to pronouncing judgement on
the Chairman of Committees, Mr. Arthur Elliot has recalled
the more peaceful atmosphere of the Breakfast Club, which
has also found an appreciative chronicler in Sir Courtenay
Ilbert. The feasts of reason at the Pohtical Economy
Club have been celebrated by Sir John Macdonell, Sir
Bernard Mallet and Mr, Henry Higgs. Mr. Humphreys
has supplied information on the revival of the campaign
for Proportional Representation in 1904, the Rt. Hon.
J. W. Gulland on the candidature for West Edinburgh, and
Lord Parmoor on the closing years in the House of Lords.
If this biography succeeds in suggesting the personality
of its subject it will be owing in large measure to the contri-
butions of Mrs. Oliver and Miss Julyan, Mrs. Crump and
Mr. Arthur Roby, Mr. Herbert Paul and Professor Alfred
Marshall, Professor Unwin and Col. Amery, M.P., Mr. Basil
Williams and Mrs. Fischer Williams, Miss Mary Meinertz-
hagen and Mrs. Robin Mayor.

For permission to publish their letters my best thanks
are due to Viscount Morley, O.M., who has kindly allowed
me to consult him on various points ; Viscount Bryce, O.M. ;
Viscount Haldane, O.M. ; Viscount Grey of Fallodon, the
Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith, the Rt. Hon. Augustine Birrell,
Lord Fitzmaurice, Lord Channing, the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward
Clarke, the Rt. Hon. Gerald Balfour, General Smuts, the
Rt. Hon. J. X. Merriman, the Hon, Arthur ElHot, Mr.
Frederic Harrison, Mr, William Stebbing, Mr. Herbert
Paul, Professor GUbert Murray, the Rev. Stephen Gladstone,
Mr. Aneurin Williams, M.P., Mr. H. W. Massingham,

PREFACE vii

Mr. G. M, Trevelyan, Mrs. Fawcett, Lady Frances Balfour,
Miss Emily Hobhouse and Mrs. J. R. Green. The repre-
sentatives of Courtney's correspondents who have passed
away have responded to my requests with equal generosity.
Viscount Gladstone, the Marquess of Salisbury, the Rt. Hon.
Austen Chamberlain, M.P., the Duke of Devonshire, Earl
Grey, Earl Spencer, the Marquess of Ripon, Viscount
Goschen, Sir George Welby, Judge Gwynne- James, Sir
Wilfrid Lawson, Mr. Leslie Scott, K.C., M.P., Mr. Leonard
Huxley, the O'Conor Don, Mr. Arthur Roby, Mr. William
Caine, Mrs. Perceval, Mrs. Selous, Mrs. Andrew Carnegie,
Mrs. Rathbone, Mrs. Simeon, Mrs. Wilbraham Cooper, the
Hon. Mrs. Mellor, Mrs. Skilbeck, Miss Mundella, Miss
Estelle Stead, Mrs. Moberly Bell, and Mrs. T. B. Bolitho,
have earned my gratitude by permitting me to use letters
of their relatives over the publication of which they possess
legal control. I am also indebted to Lord Pentland for
allowing me to print some characteristic letters of Sir
Henry Campbell - Bannerman, to Mr. John Murray for
permission to publish a note from Robert Browning, and
to Herbert Spencer's Trustees.

G. P. G,

March 1920.

CONTENTS

CHAP.

1. Penzance .....

2. Cambridge

3. Lincoln's Inn ....

4. Politics, Economics and Journalism

5. Printing House Square

6. Travel, Study and Friendships

7. The House of Commons

8. The Treasury Bench

9. Marriage

10. Resignation .

11. The Sudan .

12. Home Rule .

13. Chairman of Committees .

14. Above the Battle

15. The Speaker's Chair .

16. The Shadow of Imperialism

17. The Bursting of the Storm

18. The South African War .

19. The Last Phase .

PAGE
I

39

52

69

95

119

149

178

193
220

235
262
295
316

329
362
388
415

X LIFE OF LORD COURTxMEY

CHAP. PAGE

20. Cheyne Walk 438

21. Tariff Reform . . ... . . . .478

22. The House of Lords . . " 509

23. Entangling Alliances 547

24. Armageddon 577

Index 621

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Portrait of Lord Courtney from a Photograph by

Elliott & Fry ....... Frontispiece

Which is the " Sage of Chelsea " ? .... Face page -^^lo

CHAPTER I

PENZANCE

On February 20, 1901, Leonard Courtney dictated some
recollections of his boyhood. Though already in his sixty-
ninth year, his memory was singularly tenacious ; and the
biographer is fortunate in possessing a record at once so
vivid and so detailed of the earliest stages of his career.^

" My father was bom in Ilfracombe, as his father and
grandfather and other forbears before him. Nearly forty
years ago I examined the parish register and found that,
with very little difficulty, the Une could be traced back
about two centuries. They were modest townfolk, fre-
quently ship -masters and probably owning in part or
altogether the craft they sailed. My great - grandfather
was thus the captain of a small vessel. My grandfather
was lame from his youth through one leg being shorter
than the other, and he obtained an appointment as officer
in the Excise. His wife was a Cotton, daughter of a family
long settled in north and east Cornwall, producing from
time to time a clergyman or doctor, but in the main farm-
ing from father to son. I think my grandfather and grand-
mother must have met at Stratton, where she had relations ;
but he took her to Ilfracombe, where, as I have said, my
father was bom. My grandfather was presently moved to
Bristol, where other children were bom. He was never to
my knowledge intemperate ; but he was a clubbable man
after the type of the eighteenth century, strong and clear

^ The narrative has been sUghtly abridged and broken up into para-
graphs.

I B

2 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

in his grasp of things, terse and vigorous in expression
when he met his friends at the tavern and discussed the
affairs of town and country. My grandmother, a quiet,
home-keeping little woman, must soon have learnt the
pressure of indebtedness ; and before her eldest son was
many years old, he shared her experiences and Ughtened
them with sympathy if not otherwise. I think throughout
Kfe he carried with him the marks of this early education.
He had a great horror of debt. As a married man he
practically never went abroad ; and there was a reserve, a
silence, a caution in the expression of opinion which strongly
contrasted with the bold and combative qualities of my
grandfather's temperament. The family hved on in Bristol
several years, and my father, taken away early from school,
got emplo5mient as a clerk in a succession of merchants'
offices. He did not, however, cease to educate himself.
Nature had given him under all his reserves the sensibihties
and tastes of an artist. He read whatever he could put his
hands upon, and I have heard him tell how for three suc-
cessive days he practically went without his dinner to read"
one of Scott's novels, just out, which he had a chance to
devour at his dinner-time. As a lad in Bristol he began to
play the vioUn, and music remained the solace of his Hfe.

" The difficulties of the Bristol home did not grow less,
and somewhere about 1823 it was broken up altogether.
The appointment in the Excise was lost, and the whole
family removed to Falmouth, where my grandfather set
up a private school, my father for some time assisting him
and obtaining supplementary employment as accountant or
book-keeper to tradesmen and others wanting assistance.
This led to his moving a few years later to Penzance. An
adventurous Unen-draper had come from one of the remote
centres of English activity and started shops in two or
three of the Cornish towns, with Penzance as his head-
quarters ; and my father joined him as accountant at
Penzance, making business visits to the other places. It
was there he met my mother. She was a native of Scilly,
where her father was drowned, leaving a widow and three
daughters, the oldest, my mother, barely four years old.

I PENZANCE 3

Her mother was a woman of parts, quick intelligence and
self-reliance. She hved long enough to read the story of
Adam Bede, taking great delight in Mrs. Poyser. The
widow's resources were of the smallest ; but she bravely
faced the world by opening a small shop for groceries, by
means of which she maintained herself and reared her
children. It is an illustration of the simpUcity and frugality
of Ufe in the Scilly Islands, about the time of the close
of the Great War, that my mother has told me that she
and other children were taught to write by tracing letters
in sand. A submissive piety was the note of the house-
hold ; and in the later years in which I knew it (the two
daughters remaining at home) it was their custom to read
the Bible through year by year at the rate of two or three
chapters a day. My mother, the eldest, was sent to Pen-
zance, where she grew up and became an assistant in the
shop in which my father was accountant. Their marriage
was most happy for both. My father's larger experience
must doubtless have had an attraction, and his appearance
was unlike other men. He had long black hair falling back
from a very sloping forehead, an aquiUne nose, and a saUow
complexion. He was broad-chested and strong, but with
limbs that seemed to move together (in which respect Mr.
Goschen has sometimes reminded me of him) ; and a casual
observer might be excused if, seeing him play the violin, he
thought he might be a Jewish musician. My mother, on
the other hand, had a rather bonny EngUsh face ; whilst
her nature, pious, dutiful and loving, yet with some sense
of humour and a large measure of economic aptitude, made
her the best of wives for her husband and a most beloved
mother. In trying to reaHse the circumstances of the pair
I feel that they had great faith when they set up their small
household. My father had not, I think, wholly given up
his work with the adventurous linen-draper ; but before I
was bom he had set up a small day-school, for which, indeed,
he was admirably quahfied.

" I was bom at Penzance on July 6, 1832, my parents*
first child. An old friend, not long dead, who must have
been a favourite pupil, has told me how he had a glass of

4 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

wine given him to drink my health on the occasion of my
birth, I cannot remember anything connected with my
father's school, partly because, when my eldest sister
succeeded me, I was soon removed to my grandfather's at
Fahnouth, where I spent the greater part of some five
years, and partly because, before that time had passed, my
father had given up school-keeping and had become cashier
in the Bolithos' Bank, where, with increasing responsibility,
he remained aU the active years of his Hfe. I must have
been between five and six when I was brought back to
Penzance to remain permanently at home.^ My uncle and
godfather, Leonard, was a navigating officer on board the
Briseis, one of the lo-gun brigs which in those days carried
the mails from England to Halifax. My earliest recollec-
tions are associated with him. The brigs had an unhappy
notoriety in that one of them disappeared almost every
winter ; and there was a continual anxiety over every
prolonged voyage, hope gradually dying away and at last
giving place to despair. The Briseis disappeared in this
fashion, among the results being a complete change in my
grandfather's household and my return to Penzance. It is
an illustration of my absence from home that I remember
being presented to my father on my return and looking
upon him with curiosity as a complete stranger, not in the
least like the men to whom I was accustomed.

" From this time forward I lived whoUy at Penzance,
never going farther than Falmouth, to which I paid fre-
quent Christmas visits, until my nineteenth year, when I
went to Cambridge. For seven years or more we Uved in
the Bank House. My father was a very home-keeping
man, and his love of music was the only thing that drew
him away from his fireside. He was a member of a small
society which for several winters gave philharmonic con-
certs in the Assembly Rooms ; and when this society was
broken up the parish organist arranged concerts in sub-
sequent winters to which my father gave his assistance. In

^ As Margaret Courtney was bom nearly two years after her brother,
Leonard must either have spent three years at Falmouth or have returned
to Penzance at the age of seven or eight.

I PENZANCE 5

later years a choral society was established and flourished ;
but at the time of which I speak the philharmonic concerts
held their own though with some difficulty. My father
used to take me to these concerts from about my ninth or
tenth year. They were always arranged on the same plan :
the programme contained two parts, each beginning with
an overture from some opera of Mozart, Donizetti or
Rossini, and more rarely Weber, or a s5rmphony or sonata,
when Haydn most frequently appeared, perhaps a violin
solo and a couple of songs, I must confess that although
I generally kept awake during the first part, I generally fell
asleep during the overture which began the second. Except
for this relaxation my father's home-keeping was complete,
his hours out of the bank being occupied with books and
the education of his children, to whom his sympathy was a
constant stimulus.

" The only school to which I must refer is that to which
I went from nine to thirteen and a half, when I left school.
It was kept by a Mr. Barnes with a couple of ushers, and
had something like a hundred boys, three-fourths or more
being day scholars, and the rest sons of farmers and yeomen
in west Cornwall. The parents of most of the boys were
Wesleyans ; but the divisions of sects were not in those
days very sharply accentuated, and the religious education
may be said to have been taken for granted. I remember
no special instruction whatever ; and as there were some
three or four Jews among the rest who were never to my
knowledge separated from their feUows, I suspect I am
right in saying there was no reUgious teaching in the school,
it being assumed that each day boy was properly instructed
at home. About two-thirds of the boys received a plain
Enghsh education ; the remaining third were taught Latin
and some Uttle Greek, while French was an optional sub-
ject for which there was a special French master giving us
part of his time at an extra fee. I was on the Enghsh side
till I was about twelve, when I had practically got to the
top of the Enghsh boys, being by that time well advanced
in Euchd and taking up algebra, though with very httle
understanding of it. I must have begun French whilst

6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

still on the English side ; but it would have been astonish-
ing if much had been learnt, for no subject could be more
negligently treated by pupils and master,

" I think I must have been just twelve when I began
Latin and, of course, I was at first among much younger
boys. But I advanced very rapidly and was soon among
those at the top. The school was easy-going, but the tone
was on the whole good and the boys honest children of the
middle class. I had an abundance of multifarious reading
at home, and one of my school-fellows and myseK were
energetic enough to imdertake some work out of school.
This was in the summer of 1844. Readers of Carlyle's
Life of Sterling may remember a certain Polytechnic Society,
estabhshed at Falmouth mainly through the influence of the
Fox family, with a museum, lectures and an annual exhibi-
tion. This exhibition was in those days, as to some extent
it still is, a great incentive to mental activity in Cornwall.
Artists sent their work, engineers and inventors their minia-
ture machines, women needlework and embroidery of all
kinds, and schoolboys specimens of their progress in map-
ping and otherwise. My friend and myself conceived the
idea of making out parallel chronological tables of the
world's history, for which we had the good fortune to
receive books, one of which, falling to my share, I still
cherish. Encouraged by this, we undertook a larger enter-
prise in the following year — ^no less than a S5mthetic history
of Cornwall, compiled from the various existing histories
with scanty additions our own knowledge furnished. It
was an audacious attempt. I attended the exhibition
(1845) and passed through the grim experience of hstening
in the body of the hall to a severe criticism of owi work by
the judge of this branch on the platform.

" Another circumstance connected with my school Ufe
must be mentioned, as it practically shaped all the course
of my later years. We had annual examinations at the
school in which gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood
were asked to come and test the work of the boys. I think
it must have been in the summer of 1845 that Dr. Willan, a
Cambridge graduate, residing but scarcely practising in the

I PENZANCE 7

town, came to an examination. He was attracted by my
mastery of Euclid and perhaps something more, and showed
a desire to assist me in going further. Some months later
having, as I have hinted, but httle practice, he began to take
youths to read with him two or three evenings a week in
classics and mathematics ; and it was natural that I should
be one of his first pupils. At Christmas 1845 I left school and
entered the bank ; but it was arranged by my father that
I should do no evening work, which portion of the day I
gave up alternately to reading with Dr. Willan and study
at home. From Christmas 1845 to Midsummer 1851 my
life was thus passed, with never a break exceeding a fort-
night, I think I might say a week, working at the bank
during the day, and for, or with. Dr. Willan in the evening.

" These five years and a half of outwardly uneventful
life were of the greatest importance in my growth and
upbringing. As we had lived in the Bank House and I
had often watched my father's work, I started with a
considerable acquaintance with the routine of banking, and
soon became familiar with its details. I could turn my
hand to anything, and if the old books could be inspected
my handwriting would be detected up and down except in
the posting of ledgers, to which I think I was never ad-
mitted. Somehow or other — it seems strange to me now —
the correspondence of the place gradually fell upon me.
Perhaps I may mention an illustration of my bank service
which must have happened in the years 1849 and 1850, of
which I still remain proud. The bank was understaffed,
especially owing to the bad health of a partner who was
supposed to give active personal assistance ; and the con-
sequence was that the proper balancing of the bank's
accounts with its London agents, so as to explain the
apparent discrepancy between the accounts as kept in the
bank-books and the accounts as rendered by their agents,
had fallen into arrear. This was a negUgence that could
go on for a long time without impairing the general good
management of a bank, and I remember we had some
evidence that a similar negligence must have occurred in
the management of another bank then and now of high

8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

repute in another county. It was, however, a bit of a
private scandal, and I set myself to work to make out the
formal reconciUation of the two sets of accounts — I may
say of the four sets, because we had in fact two agents in
London and the balances had not been properly adjusted
in respect of either. I took one in hand and patiently
went over the transactions half-year by half-year, making
the balances again at the end of every six months, till I
brought down the work to a triumphant close. It was an
exercise of merely careful patience and assiduity, a pains-
taking monotony of work ; but it was undertaken with the
simple desire to remove irregularities, and it proved useful
in bringing to hght one or two errors which had been over-
looked. I had £5 given me for this performance, and,
looking back upon it, I think the honorarium was well
deserved. But the work was certainly not undertaken
with the view of any such reward, which I received, indeed,
as something unexpected. I have sometimes wondered
what would have happened if I had continued as banker's
clerk. I might perhaps have foUowed my father in Pen-
zance, or, Hke my next brother, I might have been stirred
to activity in some similar field and perhaps have drifted
into bank management in the East, in the Colonies or
even in London. My brother Mortimer has ended by
becoming the permanent head of the Treasury at Ottawa.
I might perhaps have attained to some well-paid post in
the banking world ; but though I have ever retained the
greatest respect for banking and bankers, I have never
regretted the abandonment of the chance of acquiring a
more lucrative position than has ever fallen to me.

" My bank work nominally absorbed the day from 9
to 4, but not unfrequently overflowed these hours. Three
evenings a week I went to Dr. WiUan for a couple of hours,
and the other three I was supposed to be reading for him.
We divided our time between classics and mathematics,
I loved EucUd, and was so expert in geometry that I believe
I solved every problem in deduction appended to Pott's
EucHd. I naturally took kindly to geometrical conic sec-
tions and to trigonometry. With algebra I did not so

I PENZANCE 9

easily become familiar, but ever5rthing relating to numbers
I got under command, and I was ever fascinated with the
elements of the Theory of Probabilities. Into Analytical
Geometry I may be said only to have looked. It was not
till after I went to Cambridge, and there, as it seemed, by
some sudden penetration into a new world, that I became
in any way a master of the methods of this latter learning.
I read also with Dr. Willan the elements of mechanics, and
I even opened the pages of the more familiar books of
Newton's Principia. It may be gathered that without any
pretensions to real mathematical genius, to which I know
I can make no claim, I was going to the fuU length of the
lead which my beloved tutor could give me. In classical
learning he would have led me much further than I really
went, and I am afraid I must accuse myself of some want
of assiduity on this side. We read, indeed, Latin together
until I got a real satisfaction in some of its hterature. I
had read some Caesar at school, and with Dr. Willan I
took up Sallust, some Livy and some Tacitus, the Germania
and Agricola of the last exciting my strong admiration.
We read Horace and Virgil among the poets, but for the
latter I had then no liking. We went through also some
half-dozen of Juvenal's Satires, the Catiline Orations of
Cicero, and the De Senectute and De Amicitia. I may
perhaps venture to say that I felt a real sympathy with the
Roman character, which led me in later years to take up
other books, including the De Rerum Natura, with its
intermixture of noble and stately verse with the baldest
prosaic argument. I never got any real facihty in Greek,
and, though we tried many authors, even attacking several
plays, I did not get any real enjoyment except in Herodotus
and Homer. The outcome of all the hours I gave to Greek
then and later may be best understood by the confession
that, knowing the Authorised Version well, I could pretty
easily stumble along in the Greek Testament.

" I had the run of the Penzance Library, even then fairly
stocked with the best EngUsh literature, and a friend of
my father left imder his charge his own books whilst in
Brazil. Of these too I had free range. They included the

10 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Waverley Novels and Lockhart's Scott ; and I think any
taste I may have for fine books may be traced to copies
of Lane's Arabian Nights and Farrell' s British Birds and
British Fishes, which were in this collection. Much miscel-
laneous reading was thus accomplished, though looking
back upon it I may perhaps regret that there was not
more guidance directing my path. There was in those
days also a Literary Institution in Penzance, at which
during the winter months there were weekly lectures
occupjdng about an hour, followed by discussions for about
another hour. I used to go home after these lectures and
give my father and mother a sufficiently animated report
of what had happened. My father himself never went,
although on at least one occasion he lectured himself,
taking for his subject Carlyle's Past and Present. This
Institution was greatly strengthened by the arrival in
Penzance of WiUiam Willis, who presently joined the
Society and lectured to our great advantage on several
branches of Natural Science. This admirable man was by
birth a member of the Society of Friends ; but having
married out of the Society he became, according to the rule
then obtaining, excluded from it. He etched and pub-
lished drawings of aU the antiquities in the immediate
neighbourhood of Penzance, and his knowledge and taste
and simple gentle manners strongly attracted me. After a
time he started a botanical class, in the spring and summer
getting a few of us youths to rise early in the morning and
accompany him before breakfast along the lanes, fields and
furzy moors of the neighbourhood, while he discovered to
us a flora tiU then unknown and perhaps unsuspected. He
left Penzance about the same time that I did, and presented
me with pretty nearly a complete set of his etchings, which
I still preserve.

" I had naturally some friends and associates, but look-
ing back on the time they seem to me to have been very
few. I have said that my father went very httle abroad,
and we were as a family very home-keeping ; so that my
elder sister may perhaps be said to be more associated with
my reading and education than any other person of the

1 PENZANCE II

same age. I recall, however, three lads who, during the
latter part of my time, were in the habit of taking walks
on Smiday afternoons, when some volume was brought and
read in turns by us in some secluded comer in the neigh-
bourhood of the town. They were all older than myself.
One of them, Richard Ohver, emigrated to Melbourne in
1854, whence after a few years he moved to Dunedin, New
Zealand, became very successful as a merchant, as a sheep
farmer, and, indeed, in many forms of Colonial activity,
becoming among other things a member of the Legislative
Assembly and the Legislative Council, Postmaster-General
and Minister of Public Works. Having married as his
second wife my youngest sister in 1885, our intercourse,
which was never broken, has again become extremely
intimate, especially since he has returned to make England
his home.^

" It is time to say something of our readings, which were
almost exclusively of poetry. I had in early boyhood taken
to Scott mainly for his spirited narrative. Thus I hastened
through Marmion without reading the Introduction to the
Cantos, which now gives me more delight than the Cantos
themselves. My father had given me the collected edition
of Byron in one volume when I was about fourteen, and I
had read most of the book. Pocket volumes of Shakespeare
I had also taken about with me in country walks, though to
tell the truth the result was rather a succes d'estime. My
father had also subscribed for Chambers' Cyclopaedia of
English Literature when it was first published in monthly
parts, and the book was a great favourite with me. Our
Sunday afternoon readings were given to larger acquaint-
ance with particular authors. We went through Milton's
Paradise Lost, and no respect for his great name, nor
appreciation of his high-strung verse could prevent us from
scoffing at the wars of the angels and, indeed, at not a little
of the theology of the book. I have never, indeed, become
a great admirer of Milton, whom we English, as I think,
habitually overrate. We read Cowper's Task and diversi-
fied his Poems with his Letters, to the merits of which

^ The Hon. Richard Oliver died in 1910.

12 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

a neighbouring lecturer at the Literary Institution had
called special attention. Wordsworth in the same way
had his turn, but we unluckily gave too much attention to
the Excursion. What is now scarcely credible, we read
almost all Southey's long poems ; and if this seems to
imply a very imperfect taste I may perhaps plead that
Thalaba seems to have been the poem Scott most
frequently called for in his Sunday evenings in Castle
Street. Certain it is that we did enjoy Southey, and
Modoc not the least. I can recall the glorious summer
day when, walking across a furze-covered moor, the story of
Madoc in the West got mixed with the glory of colour and
the perfume of the furze with which it is still associated.
Tennyson's Princess was one of our latest readings in
those Sunday walks ; and I can claim for ourselves that
the beauty of this poem was at once appreciated and,
indeed, it got almost immediately re-read. One other book
might perhaps be mentioned. I had purchased at a book-
stall in Penzance market a copy of the first edition, in its
original boards, of Keats' Lamia, Isabella, etc. This book,
which I still possess, has become extremely rare ; but we
read it with pleasure, if not with enthusiasm, in happy
unconsciousness that it could ever be regarded as a prize by
a bibliophile.

" It will be seen that apart from bank work and work
for Dr. Willan, the main interest of my early Ufe lay in
literature ; and it may, indeed, appear remarkable how
little influence the outer political world had upon one, the
greater part of whose work in Hfe has been occupied with
pontics. Penzance itself was outside the poUtical current,
and my family and friends were apparently in the stillest
part of this still pool. As a small boy I had been at
Falmouth during contested elections ; but the experience
reeked of bribery and of unintelligible personal disputes.
Similar airs seemed to hang about what we heard of election-
eering at St. Ives. In the County Division of West Corn-
wall there was no such thing as a contested election and a
poll during the whole of its existence from 1832 to 1885,
and our life was therefore never ruffled by the agitations of

I PENZANCE 13

a fight. The Repeal of the Com Laws in 1846, just after
I left school, was, however, an event that excited emotion
in our stiU Ufe, and I remember having to read to my father
and mother the report of Sir Robert Peel's speech in making
this great proposal. I should add that my father was one
of those who, having passed through a period of speculative
activity in early manhood, become sceptically conservative
in later years ; and his example did not stimulate me to
feel any interest in poUtical movements. Nevertheless, in
less than two years after the Repeal of the Corn Laws my
companions, whom I have already named, and myself were
much excited by the French Revolution of 1848, heartily
sympathising with the rising which drove Louis Phihppe
from France ; ^ though from lack of knowledge perhaps
more than lack of feeling we were less stirred by the move-
ments in Italy, in Hungary and in Prussia. Not that we
were left whoUy without knowledge of the wider movements
on the Continent. From my earhest memory Chambers*
Edinburgh Journal, as it was then called, had been taken in
month by month. To its eminently sober and instructive
pages there was added in the years of Revolution the
People's Journal and afterwards HowiU's Journal ; and in
these, especially in the latter, we were introduced to the
Republican heroes of Europe. Indifference in respect of
home pontics was thus not incompatible with a keen sym-
pathy for much of the Continental movement.

" The name Howitt in this last connection may fitly
introduce another field of reminiscence. During my boy-
hood the Quakers were still sufiiciently numerous, as they
certainly were distinguished throughout Cornwall. The
Foxes of Falmouth were centres of all the culture of the
West. My father had somehow become friendly with one
William D5niiond at Penzance, who died young, leaving a

^ Courtney recalled the events and emotions of 184^ in an article in
the Nation, March 24, 1917 : " The news from Russia makes me hve
again in days gone by. I recall a night, seventy years ago save one,
when in a remote corner near the Land's End three lads met together to
read the story of the Revolution which had burst forth in Paris. We had
before us a weekly paper, the News of the World, and in it we read the
magical, swift-moving story."

14 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

widow and three or four small children ; and I suppose he
had rendered the widow some small assistance in winding
up her husband's affairs. I remember being taken by him
to her house one evening just before she left the town, when
she presented him as a parting gift with a copy of Jonathan
Dymond's Elements of Morality, Jonathan being her hus-
band's brother. About the same time my sister received
as a present Mary Howitt's httle story Strive and Thrive,
and gradually the complete series of her Tales was added
one by one to our possessions. I believe they might be
read with almost equal deUght by me at this moment, and
together they constitute a real education in sympathy for
honest, hard-working, simple, small people which can never
get quite old-fashioned. A schoolboy possessed William
Howitt's Boys' Country Book, with which I was so much
pleased that my earliest savings (they were few and very
slowly accumulated) were devoted to getting a copy for
myself. I am telling this story to explain something of the
origin of my Uking for Quakers, which led me when about
thirteen or fourteen to read through and to assimilate much
of the aforesaid copy of Jonathan Dymond's Elements of
Morality."

At this point the story comes to an end, and, though
often pressed to continue his narrative, the old statesman
was never again in the autobiographical mood. To this
sketch of his early years there is little to be added. The
temperament and opinions of his parents wiU appear in the
correspondence which began when their eldest son left
home at the age of nineteen. John Sampson Courtney,
bom in 1803, was a man of more than average ability, with
a gift for economics and finance ; but the cares of a large
family, added to the warning example of his light-hearted
father, rendered him unusually reserved, while the work of
the bank claimed almost the whole of his time and strength.
His only relaxation was music, and his favourite hobby was
local history, a taste inherited by most of his children. He
wrote several statistical papers in the Transactions of the
Cornwall Polytechnic Society, and in 1845 he published a

I PENZANCE 15

substantial Guide to Penzance, " compiled," as the preface
plaintively records, " at hours snatched from necessary
rest." The pages on the history of the town were the fruit
of a good deal of research ; and the volume was enriched
by expert contributions on the geology and the botany of
the district. Many years later, when over seventy, John
Courtney noted down some recollections of Penzance at the
time of his arrival in the 'twenties ; and, being prevented
by ill -health from preparing them for publication, he
entrusted them to his youngest daughter, who arranged the
material and published it in 1878 as Half a Century of Pen-
zance. In 1831 he married Sarah Mortimer, of St. Mary's,
Scilly, and in the next nineteen years six sons and three
daughters were bom. Sarah Courtney, in the words of
her eldest son already quoted, was " pious, dutiful and
loving, yet with some sense of hiunour and a large measure
of economic aptitude." It was fortunate that she was a
good manager, for the young couple were hard put to it to
make both ends meet. She had been bred in straitened
circumstances, and her whole time and thought throughout
Hfe were given to her home and her children. For the wider
interests of the world she had neither leisure nor incHnation.
Fortunately for the young couple, Uving at Penzance in
the 'twenties and 'thirties was simple and the necessities of
hfe were cheap. " When first I came to the town in 1825
and for some years after," wrote John Courtney in old age,^
" beef and mutton were sold at from 3d. to 4d. a pound ;
in 1839 they had risen to 6d., at which price they remained
for a considerable time. Pork was 2|d. or 3d. a pound, and
had risen in 1839 to 4^d. or 5|^d. Fowls were never more
than a shiUing ; eggs when plentiful were 4d. a dozen, and
in the winter went up to yd. Butter was yd. and 8d. in
summer and a shilling in winter. Large hakes were to be
had for 6d., and other fish in proportion. Vegetables and
fruit were equally cheap." The mackerels and pilchards
of Mount's Bay were only sent to Plymouth and Bristol
when the catch was too big to be absorbed by the town and
district. Courtney was among the crowd which watched

^ Hcdj a Century of Penzance.

i6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

the first steamboat enter the harbour in 1825. At that
time there was no gas in the town, which was Hghted by a
few oil lamps provided by public-spirited citizens. A letter
from London cost a shilling, and took two days on the road.
" So few letters came to the town that for many years
after my arrival they were dehvered by an old woman who
carried them about in a basket." In this Celtic comer of
England the belief in ghosts was almost universal among
the lower classes. Several houses were beUeved to be
haunted, and old folk were still alive who claimed to have
heard a coach drawn by headless horses rumble through the
town in the middle of the night.

The charms of the Cornish Riviera were not generally
discovered before the advent of railways, and it was not
tiU the middle of the century that its mild climate began
to attract invahds in large numbers. The glories of St.
Michael's Mount were known to adventurous travellers ;
but Penzance was cut off from the main currents of national
Ufe and thought, and only muffled echoes of great events
were heard. In the chosen land of rotten boroughs it was
useless to expect a vigorous pohtical activity so soon after
the drastic purge of the Reform Bill. But though the
geographical situation of Cornwall was unfavourable to the
growth and interchange of ideas, its very isolation stimu-
lated a local patriotism unsurpassed and perhaps un-
approached in any other county. This pride in his birth-
place was fully shared by Leonard Courtney, who, though
he left it in early life to seek his fortunes in a wider field,
felt himself united by a special freemasonry with other
Comishmen, and retained an und5dng affection for its
rocky coasts.

The lad was noted among the children of Penzance for
his knowledge of the Bible, and he took full advantage of
such slender educational facilities as were afforded by the
sleepy old town ; but it was the discovery of his mathe-
matical bent by Dr. Willan which set his feet on the road
which led to fame and fortune. The doctor, a Peterhouse
man, proved the link which connected distant Penzance
with the world of learning ; and as the clever boy advanced

I PENZANCE 17

from strength to strength, the conviction ripened in his
teacher's mind that at all costs he must find his way to the
University. It was true that while other lads of his age
were devoting their full time to their studies Leonard left
school at thirteen and gave the best hours of the day to the
ledgers of the Bank ; yet he learned so quickly that the
Doctor had no fear of competitors who enjoyed every
advantage which money could provide, but lacked the gifts
and the industry which marked him out for success. The
intellectual interest of the teacher quickly warmed into
personal affection, which was rewarded by the life -long
gratitude of the disciple. Dr. Willan was to be a counsellor
and friend through the anxieties and triumphs of his
University career, and he survived to see his beloved pupil
an honoured and influential figure in the public hfe of the
country.

Courtney's boyhood was a time of hard work and short
holidays, and it was something of an event when his friend
and future brother-in-law Richard OHver left Penzance for
London in the summer of 1850, and described the wonders
of the metropohs to the young bank clerk who had never
been farther from home than the Scilly Isles. Though the
repUes are lost, OUver's letters portray the thoughts and
interests of the two friends. Despite such joys and
privileges as an occasional visit to the Opera and hearing
Brougham in the House of Lords, the young man felt lost
and homesick in the great city.

From Richard Oliver

October 1850. — Oh ! that I could accompany you to the
Lizard ! You have only to hitch the little blue bag round
your neck and stuff a pasty in. The harvest moon, did you
say ? I do not know what the sight of a cornfield is. I do not
know whether the moon is full or eclipsed. I am mad for the
fields. Mad for a race. Mad for a chat. Mr. New (a Penzance
Minister) preached yesterday in the Chapel. He came home
and we talked of you. He informed me that you had not been
so regular in attending evening service since my departure.
He also said that, though he never talked with you much, he
loved you. This, of course, is the slang of the ministry.

C

i8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

In reply to a request for a copy of Southey and
Christopher North, Oliver dilates on their favourite author
and his adventures in second-hand bookshops.

November 1850. — I have finished The Doctor. Southey was
a splendid fellow, worthy of ten times the favour he gained.
He had the boldness to say what he meant, and although I
cannot subscribe to the whole of his sentiments, he has my
esteem for piety, genius and learning, such as few possess, I
met with one copy of his works as good as new, price 15s., pub-
lished at one guinea ; but I would wait a Uttle longer if I were
you. They will be seUing at los. very soon. After several
inquiries I have not yet succeeded in finding a copy of Christopher
North. But I am sure to pick up both soon.

In the spring of 185 1 the joyful news reached Ohver that
his friend would come to London to see the Great Exhibition.

June 18, 185 1. — You will make your debut into the great
world, previous to a tranquil and learned retirement and with
a glorious field in the distance for every noble ambition. The
immediate object of the meeting I take to be in the first place
seeing well the Exhibition. You will find that the amount of
sight-seeing (of a lesser kind) which we can get through in a
few days wiU astonish you.

The visit was a triumphant success, and the time passed
far too quickly.

August 10, 1851. — Did you not feel a little used up when
you got to the desk again ? It must be allowed that our time
was very well spent, much better than a week in London gener-
ally is. We saw the choicest pictures and statues and visited
the very best places. I never enjoyed myself better in any
week in my Ufe, and I have no doubt you can respond to this.
Have you forgotten the glories of Vauxhall, or does your fancy
roam occasionally through its avenues ?

Happy memories of this strenuous week remained with
both the friends to the end of their Hves. " One day in
particular stood out above aU the others," writes Mrs.
Oliver, " when they had a walk in the then country lanes

(1 PENZANCE 19

and fields near Dulwich, lunched at the Greyhound Inn
in the village and visited the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Throughout his Hfe my brother was fond of expatiating on
the charm of the GaUery at Dulwich ; and Richard Ohver,
who, many years after, married his youngest sister, often
told her of the day spent there in 1851."

CHAPTER II

CAMBRIDGE

Shortly before his visit to the Great Exhibition of 185 1
Courtney had journeyed to Cambridge and won a sizarship
at St. John's. He was officially admitted to the college on
June 30, and commenced residence in the following October.
St. John's was at this time pre-eminently the mathematical
college. In 1846 the world had rung with the discovery of
Neptune by John Couch Adams, one of its Fellows. Isaac
Todhunter was elected to a Fellowship in 1849. The Master,
Dr. Tatham, was a mathematician ; and the most active
figure in the Hf e of the coUege during his rule was Dr. Hymers,
whose numerous treatises famiharised Cambridge students
with the methods and results of Continental mathematicians.
He numbered among his pupils many men who afterwards
rose to distinction, among them the seventh Duke of Devon-
shire, Bishop Colenso and the subject of this biography. ^

The Master of St. John's has kindly drawn up a statement
of the financial assistance which enabled Courtney to enter
the University. " He was admitted a Sizar ; for under the
then existing (EUzabethan) Statutes the CoUege could not
elect Scholars before they had commenced residence. Thus
Sizarships suppUed the place of what are now called Entrance
Scholarships. A Sizar received no direct emolument ; but
all fees, both College and University,' were on a reduced
scale. In addition the College paid a sum towards the
cost of his dinners. There were also numerous Exhibitions
or special foundations each with special limitations — to
founders' kin, to lads coming from certain schools, counties

^ See Mullinger, St. John's, chap, xi., and Rouse Ball, History of Mathe-
matics at Cambridge.

CHAP. II CAMBRIDGE 2i

or even parishes. When no candidate with the special
quahfications presented himself the Exhibition was gener-
ally awarded to one of the Sizars. Thus it frequently
happened that a Sizar was receiving more emolument
(direct or indirect) than a Scholar. In respect of Exhibi-
tions Courtney received £7 in 1852,^51 in 1853, £59 in 1854
and £46 : los. in 1855. He was elected a Scholar on
November 7, 1854, that is to say, just before he took his
degree. Not that he had been hitherto unsuccessful or
ineligible, but that his combined emoluments as a Sizar
made it unprofitable to change his status. Men who had
been Scholars had, however, a preference in the election to
Fellowships, and hence it was important to become a
Scholar. The emoluments of Scholars were direct and in-
direct, and a certain proportion of the rents was set aside
for them. This sum was divided into fifty-two equal parts,
one for each week in the year, and each part was divided
among the Scholars actually resident in each week. Thus
the emolument depended on two factors — the length of
residence and the number of Scholars resident in any week.
Out of the amount due to a Scholar his dinners were paid
and an allowance towards the rent of his rooms was made
to him. The balance, which was handed over to him in
cash, may be taken roughly as £20. But as Courtney was
not elected Scholar till just before his degree, this hardly
affected his circumstances during his undergraduate career."
Though the young Comishman was used to frugal Hving
his combined emoluments were insufficient for his keep ;
and his father had to borrow from the Bank to make up the
difference, the debt being repaid by instalments by Leonard
himself. In addition to the college dinner, to which he
doubtless did justice, his food consisted at first of a brown
loaf and tea for breakfast and supper, to which butter,
marmalade and sausages were added as means increased.
His principal correspondents were his father, his mother
and Dr. Willan, each of whom deals mainly with a special
aspect of his fife, — the first with his financial position, the
second with creature comforts and the care of his soul, the
third with the progress of his studies.

22 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY • chap.

From his Mother

October i8, 185 1. — I was glad to hear you had not much
trouble with getting your lodgings. I hope you are comfortable
in them. Are there more young men in the house ; do you take
your meals by yourself or have you company? Does los. per
week include washing ? #Be careful that your linen is quite
dry before wearing them. I must say like father I would have
given a shilling to have seen you selecting your chamber sendee
and other things.

Cornwall was far too distant for a Christmas visit, and
the first term's bills arrived in Penzance without oral
explanations.

From his Father

January 14, 1852. — For a minute or two after the receipt
of your bill I was a Uttle surprised, but on looking it over found
there was nothing beyond what I could expect, and your mother
to my astonishment proclaimed it moderate. I have from the
first anticipated that the commencing term would be expensive.
Now I wish you most fully to understand that though I expect
economy I do not wish you to be oppressed with a fear that
you are running me too hard. Go on with your studies as
coolly and quietly as possible, expend what is needed and let
me find the means of keeping up the race. I shall leave it to
your own discretion when to spend and when to spare ; only
let no one laugh you into an expense which a few minutes'
consideration m&,y point out as unnecessary. Do not be ashamed
at sa5dng you are poor. If any man wishes to bear you down
by his riches and expenditure let him alone or crush him down
by intellect. Go on with a quiet calm dignity and in a short
time no one wiU ask whether your allowance be £50 or £500
per annum.

While his mother had no apprehensions of extravagance,
her loving heart dwelt anxiously on the moral dangers with
which she conceived her first-bom to be surrounded in the
uncharted world through which he was sailing ; and,
though he never gave her the shghtest cause of distress, her
fears rather increased than diminished throughout his
academic career.

n CAMBRIDGE 23

From his Mother

July 13, 1852. — I trust you will always do what is right
and never be tempted in any way to do what would cause you
grief and sorrow and you would be ashamed of after it was
done. I always think and pray for you going to bed and before
rising that you may be kept from the many snares you are
exposed to.

January 21, 1853. — I received the present you sent me
and am much pleased with it. Nothing you could have sent I
should have hked so well, and we all think it an excellent Ukeness.
It will be often looked at by us all. You must have enjoyed
yourself very much in London. I am not sorry you are back
to Cambridge quietly settled to work once more. I shall feel
more comfortable than when you were in London. I know
that I am very foolish, but I cannot help it. I am afraid of
the journeys, and such a dreadful accident with one of the trains
whilst you was in London. I hope you wiU take care of yourself
and not study too much, but take a long walk whenever the
weather is fit.

Sarah Courtney was naturally pleased to hear of her
son's academic triumphs ; but she was much more interested
in the vicissitudes of his moral and spiritual life, and she
scarcely ever despatched a letter to Cambridge without
earnest exhortations to right living.

From his Mother

January 6, 1854. — I was much pleased to receive your very
kind letter and Pilgrim's Progress. It gave me much pleasure
to have such an affectionate letter. The book will be much
prized.

July 4, 1854. — (A birthday letter, accompanied by " heavy
cake.") I wish you many, very many happy returns of the
day. It is not hkely I shall ever spend a birthday with you
or you with me ; but I shall never forget to pray for you that
you may be kept from the many vices, snares and temptations
you are exposed to and ever do that which is right and just,
and ever remember Sabbath-day and go regularly to Church
or Chapel. I think in the observance of the Sabbath depends
in great measure your future conduct through life. You are
now a man. Father and Mother have no more control over

24 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

you ; but still I feel more anxiety about you than ever I did.
I cannot tell you what I have felt since you left. You are the
first in my thoughts in the morning and the last at night. It
is impossible to tell what anxiety parents have until you are a
parent. If it is possible there is more affection for one than
another it is for the first-bom. You will most likely say I am
foolish and particular. Perhaps I am and think more about
you than is right. Should I hear anything wrong of you it
would be the greatest trial I ever had and a terrible thing for
your father.

Her anxieties were unfounded, for her son had neither
time nor inclination for frivolities. He was weU aware that
his University career was regarded by his parents as an
experiment which required to be justified by success, and
he was resolved to earn as much and to work as hard as
possible. In his third year he undertook new responsi-
bihties which evoked a warning from home against over-
taxing his strength.

From his Father

January 6, 1854. — What of your pupil ? I think much
may result from him should he succeed ; but I would not en-
cumber myself for the present, as I think you will have enough
to do to attend to your own matters. Of course during the
vacation emplojonent is another thing.

From the first moment Courtney's eyes were set on the
glittering prize of the Senior Wranglership. In those days
it was the greatest distinction of University life, and the
one event in the academic world the ne\ys of which spread
far beyond University circles. It was obvious from the
beginning that the young Johnian had a good chance, and
his tutors were eager that the athlete should neglect no
opportunity of preparing himself for the race. The college
examinations were held in December and June, and the
papers included both mathematical and classical subjects.
At the end of his first term he was placed in the First Class,
but the names were not arranged in order of merit. ^ In

^ For the examination record I am indebted to the kindness of the
Master of St. John's.

II CAMBRIDGE 25

June 1852 Rees was placed at the top of the First Class,
while Courtney and Savage were bracketed fifth. Both
were elected " Proper Sizars," whose privilege it was to sit
at a table by themselves. ^ The completion of each year
brought Courtney a fresh " Exhibition " and a prize of
books.

The Long Vacation was no holiday to an aspirant for
high honours, and there were anxious discussions as to how
it should be turned to the most profitable account. His
tutor urged him to spend the summer in Cambridge and
read with Parkinson, the well-known coach.

From Dr. Hymers

June 10, 1852. — You cannot do justice to yourself by solitary
study at home. The first vacation is a very important portion
of a student's time, and if wasted in any degree can hardly be
retrieved. You are secure of your Goldsmith's Exhibition, and
you will receive at least ;fio from the College at midsummer.
If you dream away this vacation in solitary study and in mere
revision of former work, you will see reason to repent it before
you take your degree.

Courtney had no intention of " dreaming away " the
vacation, and on the same day he received a generous offer
from his own coach.

From Mr. Wolstoneholme

June 10, 1852, Croydon. — I was much gratified by your
extremely frank and open letter. I should be especially sorry
for you to leave me now. I hope you wiU consent to come
with me to Barmouth and to accept the Long's tuition from
me as a gift.

The arrangement was at once reported to Dr. Hymers,
who replied that he would be perfectly satisfied if he were
to read steadily for three months under the direction of an

^ Mr. J. L. E. Hooppell sends me the following extract from his father's
diary, October 20, 1854. " We nine Proper Sizars were photographed.
We had to sit and stand over an hour, while fourteen or more daguerreo-
types were made." The photo is still preserved.

26 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

efficient tutor. That the summer had not been wasted was
proved by the December exammation, in which the name
of Rees again appears at the top of the First Class, with
Courtney second and Savage third. His progress was
watched with delight by his Penzance tutor, with whom he
maintained a regular correspondence.

From Dr. Willan

December 20, 1852. — You have done nobly in the examina-
tion. There is one man that seems to dog your heels still,
Savage. The rest you have distanced, I hope for ever. Is
this man a formidable opponent ? Has he a private tutor ?
I must not forget to wish you joy of your ^^20 Exhibition, which
will no doubt be followed up at midsummer by a Wood's Exhibi-
tion. At the Bank to-day I saw Mr. Bolitho, who spoke in
terms of your honourable position at St. John's that make me
very proud of my first pupil.

The Doctor's letters reveal the deUghtful friendship that
bound the older to the younger man. Has Leonard ever
come across Monk's Life ofBentley, with its amusing account
of the controversy of Ancients and Modems ? Would he
look at the last edition of Bekker's Gallus and Charides and
the New Cratylus ? How had their reading in Penzance
fitted in with the Cambridge course of study ? Was there
any marked change in the manner of teaching Greek or
Latin since he had left the University ? Leonard would
perhaps be interested by a circular on decimal coinage,
which he enclosed. The pupil retaUated by sending him
papers on science and describing his lectures, among them
those of the great physicist Stokes.

The three men. Savage, Courtney and Rees, continued
to occupy the three leading places in the First Class tiU the
end. In May 1853 the Hst ran Savage, Rees, Courtney ;
in December, Rees, Courtney, Savage ; in June 1854,
Savage, Courtney, Rees. As the Tripos approached it was
clear to every one that Savage and Courtney would run
neck and neck for the laurel wreath, for Rees was more of a
classic than a mathematician, and no other college could

n CAMBRIDGE 27

boast of such candidates as St. John's. " Courtney is much
annoyed at the expectation that prevails that he will be
Senior Wrangler," wrote his friend Hooppell in his diary,
December 4, 1854. " I hope he will be." 'The ordeal took
place in January 1855, and the Honours List contained 139
names, headed by

Savage . . . 5571

Courtney . ^ . 5481.

Rees was ninth Wrangler and sixth Classic, the Senior
Classic being Montagu Butler, the future Master of Trinity.
The congratulations from home seem a Httle stinted after
such a triumph, the magnitude of which, however, they
could hardly appreciate.

From his Mother

February 8, 1855. — It has given me much pleasure and
satisfaction to hear of your success, and I hope with feelings
of gratitude to the Giver of all good. You must not feel proud
or exalted in your present position, but remember where much
is given much will be required.

From his Father

With your mother I am gratified at your success and I hope
you wiU still go on and prosper, yet with all this I do not feel
that elation some may imagine. I think of the responsibility
you have incurred to maintain the position you have attained,
and I feel your present is not the conclusion but the commence-
ment of a career. You have hitherto done weU ; take care to
keep in the same right path. I am satisfied with all you have
done, and what is said before is more of exhortation to continue
to do right than anything else. . . . Let me know in your next
something with regard to money matters. It seems you must
go on very parcimoniously for the next twelve months, but do
not on any account go in debt. I would rather screw up closer
at home. Remember the outset of life is the most trying to
the judgment, and I dread a false step.

A more jubilant note was struck by his first teacher, who
had followed every stage of the struggle with loving interest
and was weU aware of its arduous character.

28 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

From Dr. Willan

January 27, 1855. — Dear Leonard, lo triumphe ! lo ! lo !
I shall complete Ay paeaji when I hear that you are first Smith's
Prizeman, which I expect you will be. Let me hear all about
yourself, what your plans are, whether you intend to put in
for the Moral Sciences and whether you intend to enter yourself
at one of the Inns of Court, and if so whether you will not take
part in the debates of the Union. But by the way you should
have some breathing time, not enough I suppose to nm down
here, where you will readily understand that the Cambridge
Tripos is just now the tcdk of the town. I wish I could be in
the Senate House on Monday and at your Bachelors' dinner,
if such gatherings exist at this day as they did in mine. I have
thoughtlessly assumed that your work is over ; but the Smith
and the Moral Sciences will keep the bow bent some time longer.

The next goal was not far distant. On the Monday
following the granting of degrees the second race was run.
Savage and Courtney were bracketed equal as Smith's
Prizemen, a distinction less imderstood by the outside world
than the Senior Wranglership, but generally accepted by
mathematicians as perhaps a stiU more striking certificate
of merit, since pace coimted for less than in the tripos.

From Dr. Willan

February 5, 1855. — ^These second laurels are scarcely more
than I expected after the first had been so nobly won. I never
doubted the large capabilities of my distinguished pupil. I
should Hke to know in what points your friend Savage was
senior. Did that tiresome hot-pipe give you your cold and him
his seniority ? Mrs. Willan is I believe prouder of your having
been my pupil than you are of your Smith's prize. Have you
had enough of exams or do you intend to have a slap at the
Moral Sciences ?

His grandfather wrote cordially of his success, adding
that he had never doubted his abilities. Once again the
congratulations from home were mingled with reproaches
and suspicions that were the harder to bear since they were
whoUy undeserved.

CAMBRIDGE 29

From his Mother

February 23, 1855. — I expected to have had a long letter
from you yesterday and how I was disappointed when it was
given to me. Your letters have been nothing more lately than
little scraps. When you are really busy I am contented with
a line or two. What is it you are so engaged about at present
that you cannot spare one hour in the course of a week to write
home ? I am sadly afraid you are indulging in some measure
of gaiety that is not right. If this be the case, give it up. If
you knew how anxious your father and I am about you and
what a night I passed last night grieving and thinking of you,
I do not think you would act so. You know you have one of
the best of fathers and you ought to treat him as such. Write
him oftener and tell him what you are about and not leave
him to hear from others what he should hear from you. I
would rather be treated unkindly than he should be. Unkind-
ness from my children, — how could I bear it ? The very thought
is dreadful. My dear, dear boy, I am feeling so agitated and
distressed that I scarcely know what I am writing. Never
neglect your parents that think so much about you. I have
been too proud of you, and the Lord in mercy is making me to
feel more humble. I never felt so sorrowful about you since
you first left home.

A Second Wrangler and Smith's Prizeman might fairly
hope for a Fellowship, and Courtney stayed on at Cambridge
taking pupils and waiting for the crowning recognition of
his merit. His mother was now beginning to realise that
her son was a man of first-rate abiUty and that a dis-
tinguished career lay before him ; but she could never
surrender herself to the tranquil enjoyment of his fame,
and every success seemed to her anxious mind to bring
fresh dangers in its train.

From his Mother {on his birthday)

July 4, 1855. — I trust you will not live only to be a great
man as far as this world is concerned but a good, ever doing
what is right. I hope you will be successful with your pupils.
Whatever you get, Uttle or much, you must be careful.

30 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

February 22, 1856. — I hope you are not gay and too fond
of company. The very position you have taken in society
may be the very means of bringing you into gay and thought-
less company. I think more about you than all the others put
together.

On March 11, 1856, Courtney was elected to a Fellow-
ship at St. John's, for which the way had been smoothed
by an unexpected occurrence. The career of the Senior
Wrangler had already reached a speedy and tragic close.
" He was a pale, rather sickly-looking man with darkish
hair," writes Dr. Bonney, " rather narrow in the chest, and
with sloping shoulders. One afternoon in the Lent Term,
before the Fellowship election, he went out alone for a
walk. He did not return from it, and the next day was
found dead in a shallow ditch in the fields about a mile from
the college. Death was due to hemorrhage on the brain.
It was supposed that, as he took some interest in botany,
he had leaned forward to gather a plant and this had sufficed
to rupture a vessel."

" The value of the Fellowship was £160 a year, with
commons in Hall and an allowance for the rent of rooms,"
writes the Master of St. John's. " Under the Ehzabethan
Statutes a Fellow had to be in Priest's orders within a
certain number of years from his M.A. degree ; but an
exception was made in favour of two FeUows who pursued
the study of medicine. By Royal Letters Patent of Charles
I. this privilege was extended to two Fellows who pursued
the study of law. These were called Law Fellows, and
Courtney was the last of them, holding it until his marriage
in 1883, when under the general rule then affecting Fellow-
ships he vacated it. At the same time he returned the
emolmnents for the years 1881, 1882 and 1883, leaving the
disposal of the moneys to the discretion of the coUege, by
whom it was used from time to time to piurchase books and
apparatus. He was elected an Honorary Fellow in 1884
and remained one till his death." The Fellowship was
supplemented by coaching ; but warnings and exhortations
continued to arrive from Penzance.

CAMBRIDGE 31

From Ms Father

October 25, 1856. — I had rather you had not so many pupils ;
but as the period is short you must try to arrange matters so
as to make use of every spare minute for out of door exercise.
I can see the Law can progress but Httle for some time ; still,
however trifling the advance, you must keep the onward course.
At the time you name you ought at least to have saved enough
to pay the fee, and your Fellowship and Tancred should then
be sufficient to keep other matters afloat. It is useless to do
things by halves. If you would succeed you must learn to
put the constraint on inclination until you have fixed your
foot firm in the ground. Your mother often observes whatever
your gains they seem to be always swallowed up ; and although
I to her put on a good face, yet in my inmost heart I fear at
times you have not been so prudent as you ought. My dear
fellow, consider the uncertainty of the position of the family
if anything should happen to me, and make the most of every
opportunity. I do not mean to be a miserly niggard, but do
not consider a thing necessary because some one richer than
yourself has it. The great curse of the times is the desire of
cutting a dash, being in appearance something you are not in
reahty, inquiring, when we are about to do a thing, what will
Mr. So and So say, instead of saying. Do my circumstances
justify my doing it ? Be for the future independent of all such
circumstances and be firm in doing only what is right. I
have written this because I find myself unable to do what I
could formerly accomphsh with little difficulty, and having
also a feehng of greater responsibihty as to the younger ones.
Mortimer is justly entitled to some exertion on my part to
place him in a better position. The three little ones have also
their claims. May I live to see them at least in a course to
take care of themselves.

Despite the anxious pleas for strict economy addressed
to him from home the young Fellow considered himself
entitled to a trip abroad after five years of strenuous study ;
and in September he paid the first of many visits to Paris,
returning home through Belgium. The tour was keenly en-
joyed, and implanted the love of pictures which remained with
him throughout hfe. A year later he spent his September
holiday in England, and his adventures are described in the
earliest of the chatty letters home which have been preserved.

32 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY

To his Mother

September 8, 1857. — ^ ^^ ^o* think last week that I should
be able to tell you to-day that I have since then visited Yar-
mouth, the home of the " bloater." I went down to Lowestoft
on Saturday afternoon with Roby, walked over to Yarmouth
on the Sunday and returned by the last train last night, calling
on the way for two or three hours at Norwich. We left Cam-
bridge at I '20 and reached Lowestoft at about half -past six ;
the coast there is very unlike ours, there are no rocks and scarcely
anything deserving the name of cHff. Yarmouth is a very
quaint old place ; it has a long quay running along the bank
of the river and skirted by hmes and poplars. 'Twas well
filled with shipping, some of the houses old and picturesque ;
there is also a fine open fish market with the parish church, a
very large fine building, on one side and close by it a hospital
for decayed fishermen. But the most peculiar part of the town
is the assemblage of rows. A row is a very narrow alley about
six feet broad with tall houses grimly facing one another on
each side of it. Yarmouth is not so much frequented by visitors
as the more fashionable Lowestoft, nor is it so well suited for a
family, but I would certainly rather go there of the two. On
a green running between the river and the sea (the course of
the former being for some time nearly parallel with the shore
till it turns sharply round into* the sea) is a handsome monument
which the people of Norfolk have erected to Nelson, a native
of the county. We left Yarmouth in the evening for Lowestoft.
Yesterday afternoon we left Lowestoft and stopped on the way
at Norwich ; I was extremely pleased with this old city. In
the middle of it rises a hiU crowned with the keep of the old
castle now converted into the county-prison, and from a walk
around it a series of fine views of the city can be obtained. The
cathedral is a very fine specimen of Norman architecture, but
within it has been allowed to be disfigured and has as yet escaped
the renovating spirit of the time. The cloisters are remarkably
fine, second only to Gloucester. There are about thirty parishes
in the city and some of the churches are fine buildings, also a
Music Hall where the Festival takes place next week, a new and
handsome Free Library and an extensive open market place
with a statue in the centre of the great Duke of Wellington,
whose son, the present Duke, I saw riding through one of the
streets. I have come to the end of my journey and my paper :
to-day I resumed work. By next week my pupils will have
departed.

CAMBRIDGE 33

To his Mother

Manchester, September 22, — I arrived here last evening
having left Cambridge by the eariy train. This morning I went
down to the Exhibition and kept steadily working at the pictures
for about six hours and so saw about four hundred pictures ;
at this rate it will take two more days to go through the pictures
of the Old Masters and I shall still have the thousand or more
of Modem Artists, the engravings, etchings, statues, and all
the elegancies of porcelain. It is clear I might easily spend a
fortnight at it, but I do not expect that all the schools will
deserve as much attention as that I have been over to-day,
which was the ItaUan. I began with Cimabue and Giotto and
thence passed through the works of Era Angelico and Era Eilippo
Lippi to Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Correggio, then the
Venetians, Titian, Giorgione, Paul Veronese, Giulio Romano,
and the later Caracci, Andrea del Sarto, Domenichino, Guido,
Sassoferrato, Carlo Dolce. These are the names which we first
became acquainted with through the Pictorial Bible and have
since seen in their glory of colour in Academies and Museums.
The arrangement is entirely chronological and so very instructive.
To-morrow I shall begin with the Flemish artists and go down
the Elemish and German history ; the early specimens will I
suppose remind me of the things I saw at Bruges and Ghent
this time last year. I could go into ecstacies on the colouring
of the Venetians that I have seen to-day. The portraits of
Titian are wonderful ; there is one of Ariosto which fills you
with delight, such a jolly fine fellow, you see how keenly he
felt aU pleasure, his short brown curly beard, his honest open
face and noble bearing inspire you with a sense how pleasant
must have been his converse. Then there are two or three
members of the Medici family, the first Cosimo and his son, fine
noble looking men, another of Pope JuUus the Second, two or
three Cardinals, etc. Then there are two or three very fine
pictures of Raphael, two Holy Eamihes in especial, then some
of John Bellini famous in design, character and colouring. I
could run on about these things and, fetching the interleaved
catalogue which I have bought, detail to you my notes, but
what need of doing so ?

The next letter describes the college life of the young
Fellow during the last term of his University career.

D

34 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To his Mother

November 3, 1857. — I can only afford time for two or three
lines this week as I am and have been and shall be very busy
for the next part of it. I am bound to own that dinner engage-
ments have partly occupied me. Last Thursday was the audit
dinner at Christ's College, and I suppose as a matter of course
I was taken in by the Tutor. On Saturday the Master gave
one of his dinner parties. These apparently occur once a week
and will in the course of the term run through the list of Fellows.
Monday was the day of our Scholarship Election and of course
a dinner party in our hall. This afternoon a meeting of the
Fellows to discuss some more propositions, when I submitted
two which after considerable discussion were rejected by about
two to one ; they are on the conditions of tenure of Fellowships.
At Christmas our functions as to initiating statutes terminate
and we shall have to consider any that may be sent us. All
this with my lecturing and pupils have occupied my time,
indeed I am obUged to receive some of the latter three days
a week in the evenings ; but I am very weU and intend to
continue so. Tell Margaret I had already thought of buying
Browning for myself, but she shall have its refusal if I get it.
I have consented to be one of the six College Examiners at
Christmas.

College reform, to which reference is thus casually made,
was at this time exercising the mind of most of the younger
and many of the older members of the University. In
response to an influential memorial Lord John Russell had
in 1850 appointed a Royal Commission to inquire into the
constitution of Oxford and Cambridge and to make pro-
posals for reform. The Commission reported in 1852, and
in 1856 an Executive Commission was created to carry out
the suggested improvements. The colleges were permitted
to frame new statutes before 1858, failing which the
Commission might make proposals which could only be
rejected by a two-thirds majority of the governing body.
Many of the irksome restrictions of the Elizabethan code
thus disappeared, though several others lingered on for
another decade. Courtney's modest share in the discus-
sion, which turned on such subjects as the tenure of fellow-
ships, celibacy and college livings, is recalled in some notes

n CAMBRIDGE 35

kindly supplied by Dr. Liveing, for many years Professor
of Chemistry.

" Lord Courtney was five years my junior in the
University, and though I was one of the College lecturers
when he came up he never attended my lectures and I did
not make his acquaintance until he became a Fellow in
1856. On the day of election of new Fellows, the two junior
Fellows on the old list used to invite the other resident
Fellows to supper and there introduce to them those newly
elected. In the fifties the subject which most engaged our
attention was that of University and College reform. A
Commission under the Universities Act was busy with
reforms, and those who wished for changes used often
to meet in small parties, after the four o'clock dinner,
in each other's rooms, to discuss their plans ; but I cannot
remember exactly what Hne Courtney took in these discus-
sions. Certainly he was not prominent : indeed, as he was
quite a junior, he probably thought it better to be only a
hstener. In 1857 the whole body of Fellows had to prepare
new statutes for the College, and there were regular meet-
ings for this purpose and much serious discussion. In this
Courtney took part, but it was not a very prominent part :
he was cool headed, formed his opinions deUberately and
gave good reasons for his judgments. On many of the
questions which arose he joined the reformers in private
discussions, and his influence went generally to make the
changes proposed very moderate, so much so that such of
them as were rejected by the College as a whole at that
time were afterwards adopted when the statutes were again
revised in 1881. I look back on those days with much
satisfaction because, notwithstanding much difference of
opinion, the prosperity of the College as a whole was
never forgotten, or the happy social relations between the
Fellows ever shaken."

The young Fellow's personal appearance is described by
Dr. Bonney, later Professor of Geology, the only other
survivor of the academic circle of St. John's in the fifties.
" Courtney was full middle height, rather squarely built,
giving one the idea of considerable physical strength and

36 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

with rather regular features ; but I remember that even
then his eyes seemed a httle weak. The appearance of
some men alters greatly as they pass from youth to old age.
I have known well several men as imdergraduates who have
been so transformed as to be unrecognisable when they had
left sixty behind them. It was not so with Courtney, for
the continuity in his aspect was maintained to the end.
He gave one the impression of a hard-working, thoughtful
and unexcitable man."

A more intimate picture of the young don in his leisure
hours is given by Mrs. BusheU and her sister. " We were
schoolroom children in those far-away days, ages twelve
to fourteen more or less. We were almost too young
perhaps and ignorant to diagnose the character of a man
of such force and personahty as he imdoubtedly was even
then. But I think we chiefly recollect him as a very kind
friend who would come and talk and laugh with us and
play games galore and every now and again bring us sweets
and bonbons ! My mother was a gifted woman and an
excellent conversationahst, and, looking back, Mrs. Theo-
bald and I think he used to Uke to talk to her and teU her
about himself and his aims. She was very witty with a
broad outlook on the world in general. I am inclined to
think he found going out to Hows Close our home some
mUe or so out of Cambridge a relaxation from his strenuous
University life, and, as I hope and beUeve, found his hfe's
work and struggle of those days easier for an occasional inter-
lude of fun and laughter with our family. Perhaps he was
rather plain, but I don't remember that we ever thought
about his physical aspect. He was just a kind friend who
would come and see us from time to time. Always bright,
always nice as we children called him, and we enjoyed his
visits thoroughly. Of course we gradually lost sight of
him, but we watched his career by means of newspapers
with the greatest interest to the end of his long and dis-
tinguished Kfe. I remember how interested he was in the
visit of a certain Miss Beckett (I think that was her name),
an elderly lady with glasses, who used to visit an uncle of
mine Hving in Cambridge. She was a — perhaps the — -

n CAMBRIDGE 37

pioneer of the Women's Movement, She was older than
he, I think, but I can remember how shocked he was when
we young impertinencies laughed at her ; we did not in the
least tmderstand the seriousness of her crusade, while he did
thoroughly."

Courtney had never worn his heart on his sleeve, and he
only unbosomed himself to chosen friends. " I asked him
if he were not very reserved," wrote HooppeU in his diary,
October 31, 1854, " which led to a long conversation. I
was very glad that it had taken place, for now my mind
is at ease, — Courtney is no more to me the reserved, inscrut-
able companion he used to be." There was, however, a
certain austerity about him, corresponding to his gospel
of the strenuous life. " Bishop Selwyn preached at the
University Church," records the same diarist, November
26, 1854, " an exceedingly good sermon. Courtney after-
wards said it was remarkably Carlylese on the point of
the purifying influence of work." Carlyle had been the
favourite teacher of his youth, and at the age of twelve
he had written a critique of Past and Present in his diary ;
and although on coming to years of discretion he trans-
ferred his allegiance to Mill, he never forgot the virile
counsels and fortifjdng maxims of Sartor Resartus.

Courtney's hfe at Cambridge had been one of unremit-
ting labour, allowing no time for such distractions as the
Union or for the cultivation of a wide circle of friends.
Intercollegiate lectures were not yet invented. " An
undergraduate belonged to his coUege exclusively," writes
Leshe Stephen of Cambridge in the fifties.^ " He knew of
' out college ' men only through school friendships or meet-
ings in the rooms of his private tutor. The University was
for him a mere abstraction, except when it revealed itself
as the board of examination for ' Uttle go ' and degree."
The prosaic atmosphere of the University, untroubled by
an " Oxford movement " or by philosophic doubt, was
singularly conducive to tranquil study. Classics and mathe-
matics reigned supreme. Teachers and students pursued
concrete and Hmited aims, and liked to feel firm ground

^ Life of Fawcett, chap. iii.

38 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, h

under their feet.^ Courtney was always a strenuous
worker ; but at no time of his life did he toil so unremit-
tingly and with so few relaxations as during his University
career. He was happy enough at St, John's, and with his
Fellowship and his pupils he could Hve in tolerable comfort ;
but as no College or University appointment was in sight,
and as he was anxious to help his father with the education
of the younger children he determined to seek his fortune
in London. His resolve, however, was not the result of
economic pressure alone. When the arduous struggle for
academic honours was over he had time to think about
pubhc affairs, and his interest in poHtics developed rapidly.
" I cannot imagine you passing a life of learned leisure
secluded from the great world," wrote a friend in May
1857. The decision was quickly taken, and at the end of
the autumn term Courtney left Cambridge for London and
the law.

^ Cp. Leslie Stephen, Sketches from Cambridge, chap, xii., 1865. " We
leave theology to theologians and mind our classics and mathematics.
Our prevailing tone is what I should venture to describe as quiet, good
sense."

CHAPTER III

Lincoln's inn

Courtney left Cambridge for London a few days before "
Christmas 1857 and settled down to the study of law,
residing first at Fig Tree Court, Temple. His chambers
after his call to the Bar on June 17, 1858,^ were at Lincoln's
Inn.

The event moved his mother to a birthday letter in
which her deep love for her first-bom breaks through the
crust of reserve.

From his Mother

July 21, 1858. — How much better you have done than
could be expected, and we all should be very thankful you
have done so well ; but remember, my dear Leonard, where
much is given much is required. There is more expected of
those that have five talents than there is of those that have
but one. Nothing in this life would give me greater pleasure
than to spend a day with you. That cannot be, but I will not
forget to pray for you. How rapidly the time has flown, twenty-
six years. I can see you now a Httle baby in my arms, my first-
bom darling boy. Now you are a man and in a little time I
shall be gone ; but I hope we shall both live in this world so
that whenever death may come we may be found ready for that
happy state where there shall be no separation.

Leonard kept his mother well informed as to his move-
ments and occupations ; and her apprehensions of moral
and spiritual dangers passed gradually away.

^ Mr. Frederic Harrison was called on the same day.
39

40 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY

To his Mother

May 22, 1858. — I shall begin to read with some conveyancer
in the course of a week or so,

August 9. — You must not think it is because I do not value
your last letter that I have left it unanswered up to this time.
I did not get it till after my birthday. I was at Cambridge on
that day. We began very oddly talking about birthdays and
it then struck me for the first time that it was the sixth. I
warrant you had thought of it often before on that day. I
hope dear Mother we may hve to spend the sixth of July together.
You know if I cannot come to Cornwall it is possible for Mamma
to come to London, and I hve in hopes of that some day taking
place. It seems most probable that my wanderings will be
confined to Cambridge after aU.

A better fate was reserved for him, and he enjoyed a
holiday in the Lakes and Scotland. In the spring of 1859
Mrs. Courtney left West Cornwall for the first and last time,
for the marriage of her second daughter at Clifton. Leonard
came down for the festivities ; and her great joy is reflected
in her last birthday letter.

From his Mother

July 3, 1859, — How often I think of the few days we spent
together in Clifton ; the pleasure I felt in having you with me
in the evenings was the best part of my journey. Shall I ever
have such pleasure again ? I have been very weak and poorly
for a long time. Love, prayers and kisses.

To his Mother {in reply)

July 23. — I received your good letter on my birthday. I
am going this afternoon to Hertford and next week I shall go
on to Cambridge, where I think of remaining for at least a month.
The weather here has been very hot and work is not very plenti-
ful in chambers, so that I shall be glad to ^et away into the
country. I should very much enjoy spending a few weeks at
Scilly. It is fourteen years since I was there. I hope that the
sea breezes and visit to Tresco have done you good. I could
half quarrel with you for being unwell, and as to fretting and
anxiety I am surprised at it and hope you will forget it as soon
as possible.

m LINCOLN'S INN 41

August 2 (St. John's College). — On axriving here I found
comparatively few Fellows in residence. The grounds are
very beautiful, and it is very much cooler than it is in London.
I am reading a httle law, and if I can keep on at it I do not
know when I shall go away.

" The Long " was enlivened by a visit from the friend
who watched every step of his career with loving interest.

From Dr. Willan

August 20, 1859. — The few days I passed with you in our
dear old Alma Mater will appear as a charming episode in the
tale of My Life whenever I favour the world with that valuable
piece of autobiography.

Among the friends of the young Fellow to whom the
Doctor was introduced were the faithful Roby, and Ferrers,
afterwards Master of Caius. In the autumn Mrs. Courtney's
health, which had been failing for several years, grew
rapidly worse ; but since the happy meeting at Chfton she
had whoUy ceased to worry about her absent son.

From his Mother

November 4, 1859. — I can assure you I have not one anxious
thought about you to retard my recovery ; but you must not
think to find me anything like well at Christmas. With such
an illness one can't expect to be anything but an invalid all
the winter.

Before the end of the year she was dead. Her life had
been something of a struggle, and she had had less than
her share of sunshine and light-hearted happiness ; but
her children retained a loving memory of her simple piety
and self-sacrificing devotion. John Courtney and his eldest
son possessed some common intellectual interests in which
Sarah Courtney had been unable to share, among them a
love of Cornish antiquities. When a new and cheaper
edition of the Guide to Penzance was called for, the author
forwarded the publisher's letter and asked his son for
criticisms and additions.

42 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

From his Father

August 31, 1861. — What would you say of this ? I will
send up the MSS. for your alteration ; or wiU you have my
interleaved copy ? I daily write something, I should say
nightly, as it is all done after 10. I intend it to be about the
size of the last book, but more exact. Can you give any hint
about the hiU castles in this neighbourhood and the fortified
headlands ? They puzzle me by the great number, for West
Penwith could never contain many inhabitants to fight these
battles some people seem mad about, neither was it so rich as
to attract plunderers. Between us we must work out this
problem.

Leonard, who had only too much leisure on his hands,
took his duties as revising editor very seriously, and a mass
of notes and marginal additions embody the fruits of his
researches. The young barrister, once settled in London,
proceeded to play the part of guide, philosopher and friend
to his brothers and sisters, though his financial position was
not very promising. Mortimer came to town early in 1859
and lived with Leonard till he started in i860 for India,
finally settling in Canada, where a distinguished career
awaited him. William joined the bachelor menage in the
same year, going daily to the City of London School before
entering the office of the Ecclesiastical Commission and
winning his spurs as an antiquarian. A third brother,
Acutt, entered the circle in 1861 and accompanied William
to his school. An amusing letter from his sister Margaret
informs Leonard that she heard from a friend that he had
grown stouter " and rather more fashionable in appearance."
A letter to his father describes the migration of the Courtney
colony from Gray's Inn to Bloomsbury, which was to be
his home for ten years.

To his Father

September 17, 1861. — We are still here, but this morning I
took, subject to the references being all right, a set of rooms
at No. 35 Great Ormond Street, next door to a house Margaret
and I went into called Ormond Chambers, the fine staircase of

m LINCOLN'S INN 43

which she may remember. Our set is on the ground floor.
The rent and all attendance is to be £50 per annum. I hope
to get in by Saturday. Before taking this set I had perambu-
lated many streets and seen many apartments and at last in-
serted an advertisement in last Friday's Times. " A gentleman
and two brothers (16 and 14) require unfurnished apartments
with attendance. Within two miles N. or N.W. of St. Paul's.
Dine at home three times a week." I got nearly thirty answers
at prices ranging from £30 to £70. The other low priced ones
were either at too great a distance or in very bad neighbourhoods
or small dismal rooms. The boys get on very well and promise
to continue to do so.

The Bar proved even more disappointing to Courtney
than to most youthful aspirants, and the Cambridge Fellow-
ship had to be supplemented by examinerships and journal-
ism. An occasional excursion to the provinces proved a
welcome change to one who retained throughout life a
passion for visiting old cities and churches.

To his sister Margaret

June 23, 1863, 4 Powis Place. — I said just now at tea-time
that it was the 23rd of June, but Will could or would attach
no significance to the announcement. I suppose by this time
(nine o'clock) the tar barrels have been set out and lit, and lads
are going up and down Market Jew Street waving their torches
by way of prelude to the more furious fun of rockets : it is six
years since I was home on Midsummer Eve nor does it seem
hkely that I shall be in Penzance again on that night for a long
time, if ever. I came back last Thursday afternoon having
enjoyed my excursion very much. Examining boys is hard
enough work but" it has many pleasures, especially when you
are taken away to a nice old city Uke York and are entertained
with due hospitality. Boys and girls of a still tenderer age
are the finest things in existence ; it is a great pity that they
degenerate so. As Charles Lamb said of the Eton cricketers.
Who would not regret their becoming mere magistrates and
Members of ParUament ? I left this place on Monday week by
the 12 o'clock train, the weather was very pleasant. I had
engaged to meet my feUow-examiner Stebbing at Peterborough.
We took up our abode at Hawker's Hotel, a very comfortable
house, one of the best in York. As our expenses are paid, the

44 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

hotel bill is sent in by Stebbing to the Chapter Clerk, who
is also the school clerk, who reimburses it. On Thursday we
dined at the Head Master's, the Rev. Canon Hey ; he gave
us a very good dinner, but somehow or other his wines were
execrable. Even an undermaster afterwards confided to me
his wonder at their quality. Next day we dined at Mr. Daniel's,
the Head Master of Archbishop Holgate's school, a sort of
middle class school which we examine by the way ; the dinner
there was very swell in all respects, and was honoured by the
presence of no less than the Lord Mayor of York. I came south
to Grantham where I stopped Tuesday, Wednesday, and part
of Thursday; 'twas examination week there. We went on to
Belvoir ; it rained so we spent our time inside the castle which
I had seen before in 1856 after an Easter walking tour in Derby-
shire. However I was well pleased to see it again, and dis-
covered many things which I had not noted or appreciated
before ; a lot of miniatures in the drawing-room detained me
some time. Kdnsinan sent me his catalogue some time since.
Will thinks it would be desirable to secure the History of Henry
Earl of M or eland, in verse is. 6d., and I have rather a hankering
after Madame D'Arhlay's Diary and Letters, 7 vols. 14s.

In 1865 Louise, the youngest member of the family,
left home for London ; but, though she resided in Bedford
College, she looked up to her elder brother as her guardian
and guide, and her reminiscences throw a vivid light on
the occupations and interests of Leonard's early years in
London.

" My earliest recollections of my brother are of a strong
big man and an old one. My father naturally seemed of
great age and my ' big brother Lilly,' as I called him, not
much younger. No wonder that I thought him strong,
since one of my first memories is being carried on his shoulder
for an endless journey on a summer evening. A few years
later I remember him reading aloud to my mother, and I
played with my doll and Ustened at times. He was reading
Scenes from Clerical Life, and ' Amos Barton ' must have
attracted my attention, as ever since those childish days
I have had a vivid picture in my imagination of ' little
Dicky Barton well wrapt up as to his chest but very red
and bare as to his legs in Mrs. Hackitt's poultry yard.' I

in LINCOLN'S INN 45

think I must have been eight, and there are other impres-
sions in my mind of readings to my mother or talks with
her about books before she died a Uttle more than a year
later. Tennyson's May Queen was one reading, and I
certainly heard about Adam Bede and John Halifax, Gentle-
man, and must have been hstening when he read Browning's
Evelyn Hope, as it haunted me ; and I have a distinct
recollection of being found a httle later reading it and being
told I was a morbid little girl.

" Concerning his life at Cambridge I have only vague
ideas of hearing about his rooms and of dining in Hall. I
used to look at the photographic group, the Senior Wrangler
of 1855 Savage, and the next two Courtney and Elsee,
which hung on our dining-room wall. The poems I had
from my brother on Valentine's Day and Advent Sunday —
The Feast Day at Penzance — were far more interesting.
In after years I remember hearing of one incident which
connected the time when the news of Leonard's place in the
Mathematical Tripos reached Penzance with Charles Lamb's
Schooldays. The C. V. Le G. of Lamb's essay, Christ's
Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago, Hved in 1855 and for
many years previously near Penzance, and on hearing the
news of Leonard's success walked into the town to see my
father and congratulate him, Mr. C. V. Le Grice being then
eighty-two. From ten to fifteen I do not think I could
have seen very much of my brother, but I remember talks
about the reviews he wrote of Miss Yonge's Christian
Names and other books for The Times. These reviews very
much interested my father and the elder members of the
family, and I recollect the enthusiasm with which Dr.
Willan talked to me about them.

" Just after I was fifteen I went to Bedford College, and
during the four years I was there I was much with my
brothers. For the greater part of the time I had three in
London and spent every Sunday with them. At that
time Bedford College was in Bedford Square, and Leonard
and a younger brother lived in Powis Place close to Queen's
Square, Bloomsbury. Early in the morning Leonard came
for me and we walked to St. Peter's, Vere Street, where he

46 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

had sittings. Frederick Denison Maurice was the clergyman
there, and Leonard was his great admirer and follower.
The service was long, slow and I thought very dull. But
there was one part of the service to which I always looked
forward, and that was when Mr. Maurice gave the Lord's
Prayer at the beginning of the Communion Service. The
beauty of the Prayer, with his reverent way of saying it,
can never be forgotten. One other memory of the Church
is the fervour with which my brother used to sing some of
the hymns. After Church we sometimes met friends and
had walks with them. Mr. Thornton (Thornton, On Labour)
was one, and he and Leonard discussed questions of the
day. I hstened to their talk, and probably my interest in
Pohtical Economy began with these walks. Mr. Westlake
and his wife were other friends who went to Vere Street
Chiu-ch. Every few weeks we walked across the Park to
Mr. and Mrs. Roby's house in Pimlico, and lunched with
them. The Robys were both ardent Liberals, both much
interested in education, Mr. Roby being at that time with
the Endowed School Commission, and Mrs. Roby working
with some of the schemes for the advancement of the
education of women. More political talk and Cambridge
doings characterised these very friendly httle luncheons.
At an early hour, about 5.30 I think, the three brothers and
I dined together. I remember at these dinners great argu-
ments chiefly between Leonard and myself, in spite of the
big difference in our ages. My leanings then were very
much towards Toryism and High Church. The other
brothers watched and listened with amusement, and one
of them, who at 9.30 walked back with me to Bedford
College, has told me how unconsciously I had acquired
some of the expressions and gestures of my brother Leonard
and produced them when arguing with him. He had great
toleration of religious opinions, but in small matters of life
I should say in my early girlhood and womanhood he was
very critical.

" In those days at Bedford College from fifteen to nine-
teen my brother introduced me to many of his friends who
were very kind to the shy girl and with whom friendship

Ill LINCOLN'S INN 47

ripened and has continued all through my life. For my
seventeenth birthday treat he took me to a Saturday
Popular Concert at St. James's HaU to listen to the delightful
string quartette led by Joachim. Two of his friends Mr.
William Stebbing and Mr. T. Bodley were with us and came
back to my birthday dinner at Powis Place. The constant
and intimate friendship between Mr. Stebbing and my
brother is well known, and I am glad to have two special
memories connected with it — my seventeenth birthday
party and a httle tea party in March last half a century
later, when Mr. and Mrs. Stebbing, my brother and a few
other old friends met at my house.

" Not only was Sunday spent with the brothers but not
infrequently other afternoons, when sometimes we went
for country walks in Eppinp Forest, Hampstead or Highgate,
or visited Hampton Court or Kew. So many first doings
are associated with these years. On my first day in London
I was taken to Christie's, the National Gallery, the Academy ;
other picture exhibitions, * Private Views ' were all visited
with Leonard. One surprising first experience I remember
was when I was eighteen, and he told me he was going to
give a dinner party and I was to be hostess. This was a
much more formal affair than the httle party on my seven-
teenth birthday, and I felt some dread about it ; but Mr.
Scott, afterwards Sir John, took me into dinner and was
very kind and sympathetic, and my shyness soon went.
The intercourse which began on that day went on increasing
in friendship and intimacy until his death in 1904.

" In my studies at the College Leonard naturally took
great interest. He was particularly convinced that a
knowledge of mathematics was very essential for women. I
remember, when at one time I wanted to give up mathe-
matics, he wrote a long letter to me stating how desirable it
was to go on with them to develop my reasoning faculties.
The same motive I think made him some years later ask me
to read Lucretius with him in a leisurely month which he,
two other members of the family and I spent together in
Holland. For several years after leaving Bedford College
in 1869 there was much intercourse with him, — long visits

48 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

to London, continental travel, a visit with him to Canada,
and every year Christmas at Penzance. In the first two
winters after leaving Bedford College I read at Penzance
with Dr. Willan, his old tutor, and had from him many
reminiscences of his much loved pupil Leonard. These
readings seemed to hnk me with Leonard's early days, and
I remember in our country walks when he came at Christmas
we used to discuss Horace and other authors we had both
enjoyed with Dr. Willan."

The recollections of his oldest surviving friend, Mr.
WilUam Stebbing, throw further Hght on the personaUty
and pursuits of the briefless barrister.

" My friendship with Leonard Courtney lasted from
rather before we both were called to the Bar, he in June,
and I in November, 1858. Never once was it broken.
Friends of both will recognise that, as each hked his own
way, this is a remarkable fact. It began from the accident
of a vacant seat in a mess of four in Lincoln's Inn Hall.
There, as in a multitude of similar cases, it might have
ended. He from Cambridge had many University acquaint-
ances. I had some from Oxford. As it happened a week
or two later I paid a few days' visit to a future brother-in-
law, Robert Batty, hke Courtney a Second Wrangler, Tutor
of Emanuel. Here at dinner I met Courtney from John's,
of which he was a Fellow. The chance brought us a little
closer. Never have I had much readiness in sociability ;
he was better gifted. He was deep in the coimcils of the
University reformers, who, especially from the Inns of
Court, bombarded the citadels of academical abuses. When
such innovators were festively inclined, and founded in
a court off Pall Mall a weekly Club, the Century, I had never
heard of it till he took me to a meeting. Through his choice
suddenly, by what degrees I know not, we were friends.
I became even friend of his friends, such as John Rigby,
though with somewhat less of warmth. His was not a
nature to measure intimacy. My Chambers for business,
where also I Hved, were successively in Chancery Lane and
Lincoln's Inn. His were on the staircase of Lincoln's Inn

m LINCOLN'S INN 49

Chapel. He used them for business only, sharing occupa-
tion with F. G. A. Williams, who lives in the affection of the
few who survive. As a dwelling he had hired lodgings in
Powis Place, Bloomsbury, for himself and two brothers.
The position was recommended by its neighbourhood to
Bedford College, where a young sister was a student. Tea
in Powis Place and whist were the common termination
of long Saturday suburban walks and talk. Work fully
engrossed our days, and a majority of evenings. At first
for him as well as for me it was on the hues our profession
marked out. Nature had implanted in him a love of the
certainty of mathematical conclusions following from the
premisses. He had turned the inclination to ample account
at Cambridge. Somehow Real Property Law, with its
forms and precedents, has an affinity to mathematics.
Having no ambition for an academical career, he chose the
legal profession almost as of course. In Christie's famous
Chambers he made himself an excellent conveyancer. Had
solicitors found him out in time, he might have pioneered
through briefs his path into politics, ending with the Bench.
"As it was, one bulky and dusty set of papers, with a
Leader's and his own names upon it, for years reminded
visitors to the Chambers of his vocation. He never lost
his legal learning, though I doubt if he ever held a second
brief. When a brave publisher started the New Reports
with future Lord Chancellors, Attorneys General, Puisne
Judges, and, I think, a Speaker, on the staff, his name
was there too. I have the vanity to add mine. But he
had ceased to reckon on law professionally. Neglect did
not vex him. He never complained. Like myself he eked
out a College Fellowship by literature and examining. We s/

were colleagues on such expeditions to Grantham and York.
At the former a boy, Colhngwood, won a chief prize, and
had to recite a poem. Courtney, in the good spirits of a
hohday from London, composed verses for him in which,
though kindred was modestly disclaimed, the deeds of
Nelson's colleague were recalled."

In addition to William Stebbing, Courtney saw a great

£

50 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

deal at this time of an old and a new friend. The life-long
comradeship with Roby, Senior Classic in 185 1 and a Fellow
of St. John's, began after taking his degree in 1855. Brief
hohdays were often spent together, and many were the
visits to Dulwich College where Roby was a Master from
1861 to 1865. The friendship with Westlake began a httle
later, when both men were yomig students of law in London.
" I do not remember the commencement of our acquaint-
ance," wrote Lord Courtney in his chapter contributed to
the Memories of John Westlake. " I must have come to
know him soon after I took up residence in London, and in
the early sixties acquaintance ripened into intimacy and
friendship. A circumstance which doubtless helped their
development was the fact that Westlake, like myself, was
a zealous Comishman. During his earher married Hfe I
was a frequent guest at the very attractive gatherings in
his hospitable house in Oxford Square." A second tie was
the fact that Mrs. Westlake was the daughter of Thomas
Hare, to whom Courtney already looked up as one of his
poHtical masters. " Westlake's acceptance of the principles
of the great work of his father-in-law was strengthened if
not originated by Mill ; and it was in relation to Propor-
tional Representation that my own poUtical intimacy with
him first deepened." Most of Courtney's early friendships
were made for life ; and though his name was still unknown
to the public his friends were well aware of his exceptional
powers, and shared his confidence that in the fulness of
time he would come to his own.

While he was still at college Richard Oliver had written
from Melbourne urging him to keep his eyes open for a
Melbourne professorship ; but a colonial career had no
attractions for him, and when a pecuniarily advantageous
offer was made in 1861 he declined it without much hesita-
tion.

From his Father

April 2, 1861. — Mr. Bolitho asked me yesterday if I thought
you would undertake the management of a bank at Sydney,
salary about ;£iooo. Whether desirable or not I leave you to
determine.

LINCOLN'S INN 51

From his Father

April 6. — I had your letter this morning. I have no wish
that you should go abroad, and have told Mr. BoUtho you had
decUned the offer. Regarding your own affairs I have no doubt
you will have much uphill work and wiU suffer many disappoint-
ments, but in the end will succeed if you take a stand upon
industry and honour. Nothing is more conducive to our well-
being than a striving against adverse or rather unfavourable
circumstances. A too easy life is ruination.

From R. E. Hooppell

April 10, 1861. — It is, I can well imagine, a source of per-
plexity that the Sydney offer should be made just now and
not a few years later. You have not given the legal profession
a fair trial. I can offer no advice. I should see with great
sorrow your departure, not on personal grounds but from a
feehng that our country had lost one who has the ability and,
I beUeve, the earnest will to benefit her largely, if only a channel
CO ul be opened up through which his ability and will might
operate. At the same time I have ever thought it one of the
greatest and most responsible positions a man can occupy to
be among the genuine builders of a new country.

A thousand a year must have seemed affluence, and
may well have appealed for a fleeting moment to the young
barrister, who after three years in London had realised that
success at the Bar was probably beyond his reach. Though
a bachelor he was also head of a household, with a keen
sense of responsibility for the welfare of its inmates. His
heart was never in the law ; for he possessed the qualities
that go to the making of a judge rather than a barrister.^
But other fields were open to him ; and he had already
dedicated himself to the task in which he was to find the
occupation and the happiness of his life, — the formation of
pubHc opinion.

1 His name remained in the Law List ; but on his election to ParUa-
ment he declined in debate the addition to " honourable " of " learned."

CHAPTER IV

POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM

Courtney's main interest during his early years in London
was in economic and financial questions, to which his
mathematical studies afforded a valuable apprenticeship.
In i860 appeared the first of his innumerable contributions
to the discussion of pubhc questions, " Direct Taxation ;
an Inquiry. By Leonard H, Courtney, M.A., Fellow of St.
John's College, Cambridge, and of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-
at-Law. Dedicated to the Chancellor of the Exchequer."
The purpose of the pamphlet was explained in the brief
Preface. " As the House of Commons has during the
present session committed itself (as far as a ParHament
may) to increasing and making permanent the portion of
the Revenue raised by direct taxation, the inquiries as to
the principle upon which a direct tax should be assessed
and the method available to carry the principle into practice
seem fit for a renewed discussion ; and the only excuse for
one who enters on them is that he should really have some-
thing to say. So many, however, and so diverse have been
the answers already given by men the most eminent, that
a writer may well be diffident of the results at which he
has arrived, and if in the few following pages I ever appear
to have forgotten this, I pray the courteous reader to
believe that it was not imtil after much hesitation and
many reviewals that I have hazarded the offence of sending
forth an erroneous or even unnecessary speculation."

With the Ught-hearted courage of youth the young
economist attacked Mill and Babbage, and maintained that
capitaUsation is the only just and practicable method of

52

CHAP. IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 53

assessment for direct taxation. The pamphlet dealt with
highly technical matters and is by no means easy reading,
and it is hardly surprising that the work of an unknown
barrister attracted but little attention. The author was
none the less convinced of the importance of his labours,
and he distributed numerous copies among his friends.

From R. E. Hooppell

February 20, 1861. — I am very desirous of knowing how
your pamphlet on Direct Taxation has fared. I have read it
with great interest ; but my belief is it is too abstruse — too
abstrusely treated — for it to win much favour. Scarcely one
reviewer would read it patiently enough and think it over deeply
enough to do it even slender justice. And as for the public
I do not suppose they would buy a dozen. Your plan should
be — or shoidd have been — to give them away judiciously, to
send copies to all the great names in political economics and
finance, to all the Ex-Chancellors and expectant Chancellors of
the Exchequer and all the M.P.'s who speak on such questions.
Mr. Hubbard, I see in yesterday's Times, has carried his motion
for a Select Committee on the Inequalities of the Income Tax.
To him and to every member of the Committee you ought to
send a copy, and, if possible, to get yourself examined by it.

Many months later came an encouraging letter from the
oldest of his friends in far-off Melbourne.

From Richard Oliver

March 1862. — I got your pamphlet and entirely agree with
your plan. I hope you did not feel much disappointed at not
getting it extensively read.

The lack of public interest in his scheme in no way
diminished his confidence in his own conclusions ; and he
fearlessly proceeded to break a lance with the greatest of
hving economists in a letter of immense length.

54 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To J. S. Mill

Sept. 17, 1861. — I should be very glad if I could secure
your attention to a few remarks which I send you on the subject
of the Income and Property Tax. I have been reading in the
last few days your evidence before Mr. Hubbard's Committee
and I feel under the necessity of writing you upon it. Your
opinion carries in truth so much weight with it, and I must
frankly add it appears to me to be on this subject so insecure,
that it is of great importance to examine it a Uttle more closely.
. . . These are only hints, but they may perhaps serve to induce
you to reconsider the abstract question of the justice of capitalisa-
tion as the basis of a direct tax ; they involve a consideration
which I confess does not appear to me to have received proper
attention. I have not touched on the question of practica-
bility ; but I may say the difficulty of this question is overrated.
Could I know that I had shaken your opinion as to the justice
of the capitalisation theory I would gladly explain to you how
I believe it can be carried out. But even though it were utterly
impracticable, it is surely most important to determine the true
foundation of direct taxation. I find on reading over these
remarks that they are characterised by a plainness and direct-
ness which I must ask you to pardon. I can assure you they
are conceived in a feeling of great respect ; nor should I venture
to send them to you save for my trust in the singular candour
your works exhibit.

Mill's response was a courteous but uncompromising
rejection of the arguments of his youthful critic ; and the
controversy was terminated but not settled by a second
letter from the author of Direct Taxation.

To J. S. Mill

Sept. 20, 186 1. — I am very much obliged to you for your
answer to my remarks. I know you must be much troubled
with idle communications, nor should I have written to yoii
but that I thought I was presenting to your notice some argu-
ments with respect to which I could discover no trace that
they had ever been considered by you. But though I feel
grateful to you for writing to me, I must own that the perusal
of your letter much saddened me, and that because, from the
irrelevancy of your confutation, it appeared that I had failed

IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 55

to make myself understood. You say that the actuaries argue
that income of equal capitalised value should pay equal amounts
to the tax. It is very possible that you will find this language
used by some of them ; but it is not mine and indeed it is quite
at variance with my view of the subject, I am bold therefore
to beg of you once more to read my former letter. I do not
ask you to write me again if on a second perusal you are satisfied
that you had entirely mastered my position at the first. In
that case I would beg of you to pardon my urgency.

Though the two men agreed to differ on the Income
Tax their views on most questions of politics and economics
were very similar ; and before long Courtney was to become
the friend as well as the disciple of the leading English
thinker of his generation.

In the summer of 1861 the Whately Professorship of
Political Economy in Dublin, tenable for five years and
worth ;^ioo a year, fell vacant, and Courtney journeyed to
the Irish capital for the examination which candidates were
compelled to undergo. The prize fell to another ; but he
convinced the most eminent of the examiners that he was
the best qualified for the post. The incident is described
in a letter written by Professor Caimes in 1863 in support
of an application for a post of greater importance.

From Professor Caimes to Professor Pryme

March 29, 1863. — My acquaintance with Mr. Courtney
occurred in this way. Some two years since, on the Professor-
ship in Dublin University (the appointment to which takes
place by competitive examination) becoming vacant, he pre-
sented himself as a candidate and I happened to be one of the
examiners. This gave me an unusual opportunity of forming
a judgment as to his ability and acquirements in economic
science, and the result of the examination was to leave on my
mind the conviction that both were of a very high order. I
accordingly — notwithstanding that he was surpassed by another
. candidate on the numerical total of answering — urged his appoint-
ment on the Board of Trinity College in the strongest terms I
could command. He was not appointed, the other examiners
having concurred in recommending the candidate who was on
my Ust also first in the numerical total. In recommending

56 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

his appointment as I did I may take credit to myself for some
candour, his views on several questions in Pohtical Economy,
as well of principle as of practical application, being at
variance with my own. Nevertheless, so impressed was I with
the originaHty of his mind, his searching power of analysis,
and the importance of bringing minds of this class into direct
contact with the economic problems of the day, that I did not
hesitate to urge his election. The same conviction, strengthened
by the perusal of some essays on economic subjects from his pen
which I have since seen, makes me anxious that his quaHfications
should be made known.

The disappointment was not very severe ; for the prize
was small and the expectation of success not very high.
An old friend who had left Penzance to seek his fortune in
Canada wrote from Prince Edward Island urging him to
follow his example.

From Alfred Purchase

September 1861. — I do not feel sorry you did not get the
Professorship in Dublin ; it does not seem worth while to be
tied there for five years at £100. If you would like to get on
rapidly come to the provinces. The ladder, of course, is not so
high, but it is much easier to get up without the wear and tear
of rubbing against others.

Hooppell, sometimes a little inclined to play the part
of the candid friend, told him bluntly that his opinions
stood in the way of success.

From R. E. Hooppell

February 28, 1862. — I read Professor Caimes's letter with
the greatest interest and pleasure. The only thing that vexed
me in it was that the other three examiners did not concur in
his recommendation. Being Irishmen I hardly expected that
they would. Moreover you have peculiar views on various
poHtical and economical questions, views, I must say, I do not
always consider correct.

The rebuff at Dublin was not without its compensations ;
for it brought Courtney one of the most valued and fruitful
friendships of his life. If the primacy axnong British

IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 57

economists was by universal agreement accorded to Mill,
no one in the 'sixties possessed a better claim to the second
place than Caimes. In such a field it is the testimony of
experts that counts ; and there were few men in the
academic world of the third quarter of the century in regard
to whom the verdict of scholars was so nearly unanimous.
Winning the Whately Professorship of Political Economy
at Dublin in 1856, he quickly attracted attention by the
publication in 1857 of his brilliant lectures on The Char-
acter and Logical Method of Political Economy. As the
Dubhn Chair was only tenable for five years he exchanged
it for that of Queen's College, Galway, in 1859. His work
on The Slave Power, based on a course of lectures and
pubUshed in 1862 by Mill's advice, was the most powerful
defence of the cause of the Northern States produced on
this side of the Atlantic. His methods, not less than his
opinions, were of precisely the character which appealed
most forcibly to a man trained like Courtney in mathe-
matical principles. " The characteristic of his mind,"
wrote Bagehot after his death, " was a tenacious grasp
of abstract principle. There is an Euclidian precision
about his writings. Reading his works is like living on
high ground ; the ' thin air of abstract truth ' which
they give you braces the mind just as fine material air
does the body." ^

The distinguished Irish economist testified to the faith
that was in him when his young friend stood for the chair
of Political Economy at Cambridge in 1863. The subject
had received academic recognition \>y the appointment of
an ill-paid professor in 1828 ; but Pryme was not an expert,
and when the old man resigned in 1863 the salary was raised
to £300 a year, and responsible duties attached to it. When
the approaching vacancy was announced Courtney asked
Caimes for his support, unless he proposed to stand himself ,
and Cairnes threw himself into the contest with whole-
hearted resolution.

* Biographical Studies.

58 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY

From Professor Cairnes

March 15. — I have not seen the advertisement, nor have I
any idea of presenting myself as a candidate, and I have great
satisfaction in giving you the testimonial you wish for. If it
is wanting in strength or point permit me to assure you that
this is owing entirely to my deficiency in power of expression
and not at all to any difl&culty about giving you the highest
testimonial I could frame.

Courtney's next letter informed his Irish friend and
champion that there was so little hope of success, since
other and better known candidates had appeared, that he
hardly cared to compete ; but Cairnes urged him to go
forward and was fertile in promises and encouragement.

From Professor Cairnes

March 19. — If you have an essay on an economic subject
which you would have no objection to submit to Mill and would
allow me to be the medium of conveying it, I think I might
interest him in your behalf in such a way as to draw from him
an expression of opinion that might be serviceable. Your
remark on Fawcett's pretensions entirely coincides with the
opinion I had formed of him ; though perhaps I should have
gone somewhat further in an unfavourable sense. His specula-
tions on gold I thought exceedingly flimsy. Macleod I should
be sorry to see appointed ; but he struck me as a man of more
power than his rival.

MiU was committed to Fawcett ; but the postponement
of the election tiU the late autumn appeared to Cairnes
favourable to the chances of his candidate. An unsuccessful
application for an examinership in pohtical economy at
London University called forth his ready sympathy.

From Professor Cairnes

May 3. — I am really exceedingly disappointed at this result,
not that it is of much importance in itself but as a 'point d'appui
with a view to the Professorship.

IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 59

A fortnight later he is advocating an effort on the part
of the candidate himself.

From Professor Cairnes

May 18. — On the whole I am inclined to take a much more
hopeful view of your chance from all you teU me, and I trust
this is also your disposition. You spoke some time ago of
writing something on which you might obtain the opinion of
competent judges. Might it not be well to do this at as early
a point of time as possible so as to secure such of the constituency
as are Uke to be influenced by considerations of this kind (I
suppose a small fraction) before they have committed themselves
to a side ?

Meanwhile the other candidates were also bestirring
themselves, and canvassing proceeded merrilj'' throughout
the summer.

From Professor Cairnes

May 23. — I have received a letter from Fawcett, asking me
for a testimonial. I of course declined, excusing myself on the
ground that I had already expressed an opinion in your favour,
I am not a little astonished that he should have thought it worth
while to apply to me.

May 26. — I confess I am surprised at Mill's testimonial to
Fawcett. I can understand his testifying to his " sound know-
ledge," also to the value of some of his illustrations, but how he
could credit him with " clear and precise exposition " passes
my comprehension. I do not, any more than you, attach much
importance to testimonials ; stiU it would be as well if you get
some name to go near balancing Mill's. Have any of your
writings come under Lord Overstone's notice ? You are most
welcome to make any use you please of my letter of August 2,
186 1. In the event, however, of your using it as a testimonial,
as I have referred in it to " important points " on which your
views differ from mine, it is perhaps right that I should add
that, with one exception, these are points with reference to which,
while differing from me in common with the English school of
Political Economy, you are at one with Bastiat, Say and some
of the most eminent economists of France. The one exception
is the vexed question of the Bank Act of 1844, to the poUcy of
which you subscribe while I dissent from it. I should also add

6o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

that having, since the date of my letter, read several essays from
your pen on economic subjects, I have had my original opinion
of your general abiUty as well as of special aptitude for economic
speculation not merely confirmed but greatly strengthened,
and that I shall regard your appointment to a Chair of Political
Economy as a real gain to the science.

The election was fixed for November 27, and four candi-
dates presented themselves.^ The electors, who were chiefly
resident Masters of Arts, v/ere expected to prefer a resident.
The favourite was Fawcett, a Fellow of Trinity Hall, and a
popular figure in the University and beyond. His Manual
of Political Economy, opportunely pubhshed at the begin-
ning of the year, had found a ready welcome in the wide
circles which desired to understand Mill's system without
the effort of reading his book ; and he produced an army
of testimonials with which none of his rivals could compete.
Mayor, the other resident candidate, a Fellow and Tutor
of St. John's, had speciaUsed in moral science ; but he was
loyally supported by the Master and most of the Fellows
of his College The third candidate, Macleod, was an
expert ; but his views aroused contemptuous and even
angry antagonism. Courtney's abilities were known to his
friends but unknown to the world, and his chances were
generally considered as slender as those of Macleod. Thus
the contest lay between Fawcett and Mayor ; and by a
curious coincidence Courtney's candidature proved an
essential element in the success of the man who was one
day to become his most intimate friend and associate. The
situation is explamed by Leslie Stephen, one of the most
ardent of Fawcett's supporters. " One consideration turned
out to be decisive. Members of St. John's College, unless
they were beUed, had a private decalogue, including the
commandment. Thou shalt not vote against a Johnian,
Fawcett had some very warm friends in St. John's, who
sincerely thought him the best man, but who would not
allow that opinion to divert them from the plain path of
duty. Courtney, however, was a Johnian as well as Mayor ;

^ The story is told at length in LesUe Stephen's Life of Fawcett,
chap. iii.

IV POLITICS. ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 6i

and though his chances were known to be infinitesimal, they
could vote for hini without inconsistency. Such votes
would be taken from Mayor, though not transferred to
Fawcett. Fawcett's chance thus came to depend on Court-
ney's continu.ng to stand, and thus to divide the soHd
Johnian phalanx. Courtney fortunately held that he was
pledged to his supporters to go to the poll, and they held
him to his pledge." The result was in accordance with
expectation. Fawcett, 90 ; Mayor, 80 ; Courtney, 19 ;
Macleod, 14. As Courtney had cherished no illusions, he
was perhaps less disappointed than his principal champion.^

From Professor Cairnes

November 30. — I am heartily sorry at the result, as much
on pubUc as on personal grounds. Fawcett will, I daresay,
fill the Chair respectably, but I have no expectation that the
science will gain in his keeping, which I believe it would have
done in yours. I earnestly hope you may before long find a
position, if not in Cambridge in some other University, suited
to your pretensions.

Courtney's career since he settled in London at the end
of 1857 had been a series of disappointments. There were
no prospects at the Bar, and Sir Edward Clarke has ex-
pressed the opinion that he was too ligid for success in that
school of compromise and accommodation. His efforts to
return to academic life had been fruitless. His pamphlet
on Direct Taxation had attracted no attention. In one
direction alone, that of joumaUsm, could he point to any
advance. Among weekly papers the Saturday Review,
started on a new course by Douglas Cook in 1855, had won
the first place in authority and popular favour ; for no
other journal could boast of an array of contributors such
as Abraham Hayward and Lord Robert Cecil, Henry Maine
and Fitzjames Stephen, John Morley and Vernon Harcourt.
Next to the Saturday stood the Spectator, which, on the

^ " Though I am vain enough to think I had perhaps the best grip of
economic principles, I should not have been a good Professor and the
fittest man was chosen," wrote Courtney to Roby in 191 1, after reading
the life of Alexander Macmillan.

62 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

death of its owner and editor, Rintoul, in 1858, had passed
into the hands of Meredith Townsend, who was speedily
joined by Richard Holt Hutton. The Examiner, founded
by Leigh Hunt and edited for many years with rare abihty
by Albany Fonblanque, failed to maintain its position
under John Forster, but still retained a certain influence.
To seciure the entree into any of these organs was no easy
task for an unknown writer, and Courtney's debut was
made in a far less exalted quarter. In i860 the London
Review, a threepenny weekly, was founded by Charles
Mackay, a writer of weU-known songs and for some years
editor of the Illustrated London News. His ambition was
to rival the Saturday by avoiding its censorious tone ; and
the opening number, published on July 7, defined " Our
Principles and PoUtics." "To be honest in politics and
generous and appreciative in criticism shall be the rule.
It win not always be sitting in judgment, but will originate
as well as criticise and wiU afford to young and rising
genius an arena in which its first distinctions may be
achieved. The unknown writer shall be as cordially
received as a man who has made himself famous, provided
that he has something good to say and knows how to
say it."

The birth of the journal was celebrated at a sumptuous
dinner at the Reform Club, the menu of which was re
produced many years later with naive satisfaction in the
host's autobiography. The high spirits of the company
were somewhat damped by Monckton Milnes, who, in
proposing the health of the host and prosperity to the new
venture, expressed his doubts whether it could succeed
unless more wit and fun were infused into it. Mackay
tartly replied that it was not intended to compete with
Punch, and that the one dull article that had so far appeared
was from the pen of his candid critic. Despite its somewhat
ponderous qualities the Review grew steadily in pubhc
favour, but too slowly for the partners who had found the
money. " After six months of worry and discomfort,"
wrote Mackay long after in the bitterness of his heart, " I
found I had made a mistake, and resigned my editorial

IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 63

sceptre to an unliterary autocrat who ruled by right of his
banking account, and was in a position to purchase anony-
mous opinion at the small market prices then current
cimong the tyros of the press." ^ Mackay's departure made
little difference in the character of the Review, which
continued to supply articles of average merit. Lacking the
brilliant audacity of the Saturday, it failed to seciure a lead-
ing place in the world of journalism, and its career came to
an end in 1869 ; but it provided a welcome training-ground
for a good many young writers who had stiU to make their
name.

During 1862 and 1863 Courtney frequently contributed
articles and reviews, chiefly relating to the literature and
problems of pohtical economy. Among the tasks which
gave their author the greatest pleasure was a long notice
of Caimes's masterly treatise on The Slave Power, in which
he not only paid a generous tribute to his Irish friend, but
gave expression to his ardent championship of the cause of
the North. The common ignorance of America before the
war, he begins, was astonishing, and even now the public
was only beginning to wake up. Mill had explained the
importance of the conflict^ " and the present work, which
may be said to appear under Mr. MiU's auspices, may serve
to bring over those who remained uncertain." The signifi-
cance of the voliune lay in the fact that it provided the key
to the great drama that was being unfolded beyond the
Atlantic, which both in intrinsic importance and in mere
size surpassed any event since the French Revolution.
Earl RusseU had declared that the North was fighting for
empire, the South for independence ; but this was to miss
the real cause of the struggle. It was the merit of Caimes
to trace the conflict to its root in the essential opposition
between the economic character of a Slave State and a
Free State. The Southerners were cut for much more than
independence. " They wish to acquire new lands to be
worked by their slaves, and by the creation of Slave States
to preserve their power in the Senate. It seems impos-
sible to regret the present war. Deplorable as are its

^ Charles Mackay, Through the Long Day, ii. 201-12.

64 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

consequences it has already averted greater evils. In
the interest of ci\dIisation Englishmen cannot but wish
the humbling of the Southern power, the character and
design of which Professor Caimes has so ably revealed to
them."

From Professor Caimes

June 20, 1862. — Thanks for your very friendly and flattering
notice of my book in the London Review. You have put in a
very forcible way some of the principal points of my argument ;
and your notice will prove very useful. The present is the
first number I have seen. I had understood that it was sup-
ported by seceders from the Saturday Review. If it should
succeed in taking its place in public estimation I, for one, should
exceedingly rejoice, the influence of the latter organ having
been for some time past purely mischievous. The standard of
writing in the number you sent me strikes me as very high.

From this time forward the Galway Professor kept his
eye on the London Review, and frequently wrote to express
his admiration or dishke of its contents.

From Professor Caimes

March 15, 1863. — I see the London Review pretty frequently,
and had noticed the discordant elements to which you refer.
In the number of yesterday I see there is an article on America
of a strongly Southern cast — doubtless by Mr. Greg. Was it
not your hand which was at work some months ago in some
articles on rent ?

April 7, 1863. — It was surely you who were at work on
Macleod in the London Review of Saturday. I have not read
anything for a long time in the way of criticism that has so
thoroughly satisfied me. I have also read with great interest,
and in the main concurrence, your articles on £conomistes
Modemes. I do think you greatly underrate Mill and overrate
Bastiat as much. Your review, however, has had the effect
of sending me to his works.

Though Courtney speciaHsed rather in finance and
political economy than in foreign poHtics, the tremendous

IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 65

drama in America which opened in 1861 claimed his atten-
tion from the first. He never doubted for a moment that
the cause of the North was the cause of righteousness, and
he did his best to counterwork the Southern sympathies
openly and often truculently expressed by the governing
classes in England. His debut as a political adviser to his
fellow-countrymen revealed him in the role which he con-
tinued to play with increasing authority for nearly sixty
years. The seizure of the Southern envoys on board the
Trent threw Great Britain into a paroxysm of indignation,
and, but for the intervention of the Queen and the Prince
Consort, aided by the fact that London and Washington
were unconnected by telegraph, would probably have
hurled two countries into war. The young barrister's
closely reasoned letter to the Daily News was the first of
many appeals to his fellow-countrymen to keep their heads
in a grave crisis.

The American Difficulty

To the Editor of the Daily News.

SiR-*-Readers of the daily papers must confess that the public
indignation is spent on a wrong issue. Speakers at the meetings
throughout the country declaim, amidst vehement cheering,
against the insult offered to our flag by searching a vessel that
bears it, against the violation of the protection that flag warrants,
by taking away persons from its shelter. Both speakers and
cheerers would think the insult deepened and the violation
more outrageous had Commodore Wilkes insisted on conducting
the Trent and aU on board into Boston Harbour. Yet it is
the fact that had Commodore Wilkes done this we should have
had no ground of complaint. It is indeed known that the
remonstrance of our government is directed against the manner
in which the seizure has been effected ; but this is regarded by
the public as a lawyer-like subtlety in taking one, and that a
minor one, out of many grounds of complaint, because it is
clear and definite, instead of being as it is, the taking of the one
single and sole ground on which we can raise an objection. I
cannot but think that if the true nature of the difference between
us and the Federal government were known, the public excite-
ment would very much abate, and what I think we must all
desire, a peaceable solution of the difficulty, would be rendered

F

66 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

possible. I hope therefore you will find it convenient to insert
a short argument to show that Commodore Wilkes would have
been justified by international law in taking possession of the
Trent and conducting her to a prize court of the Federal States.

(A long technical discussion follows.)

In any case it is our duty, quietly but determinedly, to wait
till we learn whether the prize courts of the United States can
enter upon and decide the question of the legality of the capture,
and if they can we must await their decision. Until that is
pronounced the Northern States are at Hberty to assume the
best possible case in their favour. It may appear that Messrs.
Mason and Slidell were furnished with money or with letters of
credit on speculative Liverpool merchants who have purchased
the cotton locked up in the South, and that they also bore in-
structions to purchase warHke stores or even ships of war (there
are American sailors enough in our ports) with which to harass
the navy, mercantile or otherwise, of the North, My letter has
grown to a formidable size, but I hope the importance of the
subject will serve as an excuse. — I am, etc. L. H. C.

Lincoln's Inn,
December ii, 1861.

In reprinting his weighty and temperate protest half a
century later, ^ its author called attention to a letter from
Palmerston to Delane confirming its argument. " Much to
my regret," wrote the Prime Minister after a Cabinet
Committee attended by the Law Officers, " it appeared
that according to the principles of international law, laid
down in our Courts by Lord Stowell and practised and
enforced by us, a belligerent has a right to stop and search
any neutral, not being a ship of war, and being found on
the high seas, and being suspected of carrying the enemies'
despatches, and that consequently this American cruiser
might by our own principles of international law stop the
West Indian packet, search her, and if the Southern men
and their despatches and credentials were found on board,
either take them out or seize the packet and take her back
to New York for trial." ^ Though the law thus clearly set
forth in November was strictly observed a week or two

^ As an Appendix to Peace or War, 1910.
* Dasent, Life of Delane, ii. 36.

IV POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND JOURNALISM 67

later in the stoppage of the Trent, Palmerston denounced
the act in violent terms and was rapturously applauded by
the Times and most of the other organs of public opinion.

At the same time that his work for the London Review
was unconsciously fitting him for Printing House Square,
Courtney was also preparing himself for the claims of public
life. He had been much too busy at Cambridge to spare
time for the Union debates, and his tastes in those years
were rather literary and artistic than political ; but on
settling in London his interest in affairs had developed
rapidly. On January 30, 1861, he was elected a member of
the newly formed Hardwicke Society, a weekly debating
circle which has supplied a training to generations of clever
young lawyers.^ On the same day Coleridge, afterwards
Lord Chief Justice, Rigby, afterwards Lord Justice, and
Gully, afterwards Speaker, were enrolled. He attended
his first meeting in February, when a motion for the reduc-
tion of naval and military expenditure was lost. His
maiden speech was delivered on March 13, when he un-
successfully opposed the motion, " That no attempt should
be made to readjust the income-tax with the view of lighten-
ing its pressure on terminable and precarious incomes."
It was the subject which he had made his own in his
pamphlet on Direct Taxation, and among the visitors was
Hubbard, who had recently carried his motion for a Select
Committee on the inequalities of the income-tax. The
young orator was not altogether satisfied with his maiden
effort.

From his Father

March 23, 1861. — I trust your next attempt at the Hardwicke
will be more satisfactory than the first movement. Like every-
thing else I believe there must be a course of training for public
speaking, however collected you may be.

A week or two later he opposed compulsory elementary
education, and on May 22 he for the first time opened a

^ I am indebted for the following details to the kindness oi Mr. William
Latey, who is engaged on a history of the Hardwicke Society.

68 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, iv

debate, condemning the remissions of taxation in the
current Budget as excessive in amount and ill selected. In
February 1862 he proposed the emancipation of the self-
governing colonies, and in November he carried a motion
against the recognition of the South in the American civil
war. He was now one of the most frequent contributors
to debate, both on legal and political topics. He defended
the cession of the Ionian Isles to Greece, condemned the
Government's loan of officers to China, opposed a motion
by Frederic Harrison urging the Western Powers to prevent
Russian aggression against Poland, and argued against the
neglect of Parhamentary Reform. On joining the staff of
the Times in 1864 he virtually ceased to attend ; but he was
present at the annual dinner in 1865. His last appearance
was in May 1866, when he introduced, but failed to carry
a motion that the Government Reform scheme was
unsatisfactory.

" It was the best debating society I have ever known,"
writes Sir Edward Clarke in his Autobiography.^ " It
used to meet in a back room at Dick's Coffee House, and
the attendance was then only from fifteen to twenty. But
among the regular attendants and frequent speakers were
some notable men. Leonard Courtney, Frederic Harrison,
Montague Cookson, and Vernon and Godfrey Lushington
were very often there, and Giffard and HerscheU and Charles
RusseU came occasionally. I was the Honorary Secretary
1865-68 and then President for three years ; and I have
never ceased to try to persuade students and young bar-
risters not to neglect the advantages which such a society
offers." Sir Edward recoUects Courtney as a " very magis-
terial " speaker, slow in deUvery and without pretensions
to briUiance, but extremely weU informed and powerful in
argument.^

* Story of My Life, p. 61.
* Convergation with the author, September 191 8.

CHAPTER V

PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE

In the course of a letter written in September 1863 Courtney
casually records that " Mr. G. W. Dasent of the Times " had
left a card at his chambers while he was away. He
had already offered a number of reviews, all of which had
been returned ; but his pertinacity was ultimately rewarded.
On January 26, 1864, a long and discriminating review of
The Water-Babies appeared, for which in due course he
received a cheque for ten guineas.^ He foretold that the
story would outlive many generations of ordinary gift-
books, and that Kingsley's babies would remain young to
gambol with children yet unborn ; but he was well aware
of the author's faults. " There is in his mind a certain
one-sidedness, we might almost call it narrowness, closely
allied with his impetuous vigour. His keen sense of beauty
and his hearty manhood have saved him from becoming a
dangerous fanatic ; but in The Water-Babies enough of the
narrowness remains to prevent us from ranking him among
the great humorists of literature. About Mr. Kingsley
there linger some of the vehement partialities of youth."
A week later followed a scholarly notice of The Gladiators,
showing a wide acquaintance with historical novels. In
March he contributed a leading article on the Sewing
Machine, a four-column review of Isaac Taylor's Words
and Places, filled with curious learning in the region of
local history, and a technical discussion of the sugar duties

^ I am greatly indebted to the Times for permitting me to refer to the
authorship of Courtney's articles and to record the remuneration.

69

70 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

in the form of a letter from " A Freetrader." On April 19
he wrote his first political leader on a debate on the sugar
duties. These unaccustomed triumphs were entered in an
account-book which was to record the date, subject and
remuneration of the 3000 articles contributed to the Times
during the next sixteen years. After six years of struggle
and disappointment in London the turning-point had come
at last. Henceforth he occupied a position in the world
not unworthy of his abiUties, and earned a salary which
enabled him to hve in modest comfort, to indulge his passion
for foreign travel, and to offer more substantial assistance
towards the education of his brothers and sisters.

Professor Caimes wrote to congratulate the critic on his
" very clever but too indulgent " review of Kings] ey ; but
the most welcome letter came as usual from Penzance.

From Dr. Willan

March 30, 1864. — I have just read your most charming
review of Words and Places, and if I could be sure the work
is as interesting as the review of it I should order it for our
library. I should long ago have acknowledged your attention
in sending me your article on The Water-Babies. Now I
have to congratulate you on your first " Leader," and I know
you will give me credit for feeling an honest pride in this and
in all your successes. I saw your review of The Gladiators
in our Evening Mail. The subject was more to my taste than
that of The Water-Babies ; but the review of both was
exhaustive. It is a puzzle to me how you can say so much in
so small a space.

When Courtney joined the staff of the Times the famous
journal was at the zenith of its career. ^ Its circulation was
about 60,000, and it had no serious competitor. The press
was still superior to the platform, and the press was the
Times. The author of its greatness was Barnes, who could
be seen riding down Parhament Street with a duke walking
on each side, and who was hailed by Lyndhurst in 1834 ^^
" the most powerful man in the country," He had been

^ See Sir Edward Cook, Delane of the Times.

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 71

ably seconded by Edward Sterling, the chief of his leader-
writers, Carlyle's " Thunderer," and the father of Carlyle's
gentle and gifted friend. When Delane succeeded Barnes
in 1841 at the age of twenty-four it seemed impossible that
the young man who had only recently left Oxford should
maintain the paper at the giddy eminence to which it had
been raised. But doubts quickly melted as the staff came
to realise the firmness of purpose and the proud independence
of their new master. Though well aware of his powers and
rejoicing in his immense responsibiUty the young editor had
the wisdom to take lessons from Lord Aberdeen, who
became Peel's Foreign Minister in the same year. But
Aberdeen was his only political mentor ; for he quickly
outgrew the need of tutelage, and GranviUe and Palmerston
were comrades, not counsellors. Possessing friends in
both the Whig and the Tory camp he heard of events, plans
and decisions before they were known to other editors, and
he often surprised the world by the publication of momentous
news obtained as if by thought-reading or magic. His
first great coup was the announcement of Peel's fateful
decision to repeal the Corn Laws ; but it was the Crimean
War which made him an outstanding national figure and
one of the acknowledged directors of the policy of the
country. His decision to publish the despatches of William
Howard Russell overthrew the Aberdeen Ministry, and it
was his commanding voice that simimoned Palmerston to
the helm. It was at this moment that Lord John Russell,
the only prominent statesman who refused to bum incense
at his shrine, remarked to GranviUe, " Your friend Mr.
Delane seems to be drunk with insolence and vanity."
" What the Tsar is in Russia or the mob in America," wrote
Anthony Trollope in 1855, " the Jupiter is in England." ^
Though by temperament a Palmerstonian Whig he was
free from all poUtical ties, and for a generation he ad-
monished the Crown and its servants as a schoolmaster
rebukes and encourages the members of his class. Honour-
able, courageous and patriotic, rarely looking ahead and
blissfully ignorant of the needs and aspirations of the

^ In The Warden.

72 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

working classes, he was as perfect a representative of mid-
Victorian England as Palmerston himself. This conformity
to type was the main source of his power ; and, in moments
of national or party, crisis crowned heads, ministers and
legislators waited with bated breath for the voice of the
oracle.

A vivid picture of the daily life of Delane has been
drawn by Dean Wace, one of the two survivors of his
brilliant staff. ^ " He rarely left the ofhce in Printing
House Square before five o'clock in the morning, and
walked to his small house in Serjeants' Inn, a httle square
off Fleet Street, about a quarter of a mile distant. When
he rose he would spend three or four hours in arranging the
work of the day, writing and answering letters ; and some-
times, especially in my years of apprenticeship, I would
receive a letter from him about six o'clock, giving me my
subject and my cue for the work of the evening. About
the middle of the afternoon his horse was brought to him,
and, followed by his groom, he rode slowly towards the
West End. He said to me once that if he started to walk
from Fleet Street along the Strand to Pall Mall or West-
minster he would never get there, as so many people would
buttonhole him. But on his horse, which he rode slowly,
he could greet them and go on. When the Houses of
Parhament were in session he would always ride down to
them, stroll into the House of Commons or the House of
Lords as he pleased, stand under the gallery, and acquaint
himself with the parliamentary situation of the day. Peers
or members who were concerned in the current business
would speak to him, and thus he was always in touch with
the prevalent feeUng and tendency in both Houses. Thence
he would ride on to the Athenaeum or the Reform Club,
and there he was sure to meet some one interested in the
poHtical or scientific or legal question of the hour ; or else
he would ride on to Lady Palmerston's house in Piccadilly,
or to Baroness Lionel de Rothschild's, or some other great
leader of political or social Hfe, and carry away at least as
much suggestion or information as he brought. In the

^ John Thaddeus Delane, 1908.

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 73

evening the days must have been rare when he was not, or
could not have been, dining in some society which brought
him once more into contact with the current interests and
Mving thoughts of the hour."

Two more snapshots help us to visuahse the unique
position which the Editor of the Times occupied in the
social and poHtical Ufe of London, the first by a man about
town, the second by a young Tory aristocrat. " It was a
rare experience," writes Alexander Shand, " to have his
arm up St. James's Street in the session when the stream
was setting of a summer afternoon towards the House, and
to hsten to his amusing commentary of anecdote and
reminiscence, interspersed with incisive sketches of char-
acter and careers suggested by passing personahties." ^
" Delane's entrance into the lobby was a sight worth witness-
ing," records Lord George Hamilton. " No pope or autocrat
could have shown a more lofty condescension to his sub-
ordinates than he exhibited to the habitues of the lobby,
and what annoyed me was not so much his assumption of
superiority but the grovelling sycophancy with which it
was accepted. He contrived always to have a tame Cabinet
Minister in his pocket, and he was terribly toadied by a
certain section of society and particularly by the leading
Whig ladies of the period," ^

The omnipotent editor was ably supported by his staff.
Fully trusted by John Walter, the proprietor, he was
equally fortunate in the assistant editor, Dasent, his brother-
in-law and attached friend, who from 1845 to 1870 assumed
command when the chief was away. The three men worked
in perfect harmony and offered an unbroken front to any
attempt on the part of the staff to dictate the policy of the
paper. Thus when in 1855 Henry Reeve refused to obey
Dasent while the editor was enjoying his holiday abroad
he was promptly dismissed by Walter, though he had been
the most competent leader-writer on foreign poUcy for
fifteen years. Delane's subordinates, however, were far too
able to be merely echoes of their master's voice. Russell

^ Days of the Past, p. 197.
* Parliamentary Reminiscences, pp. 24-28.

74 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

had joined the staff in 1842 and leapt into fame during the
Crimean War. Robert Lowe wrote leaders from 185 1 to
1868, without allowing his promotion to the Treasury
Bench to interrupt the connection. Among other members
of the editorial staff were Thomas Mozley, William Stebbing,
George Brodrick and Antonio Gallenga.

In the year before Courtney crossed the threshold of
Printing House Square there occurred the celebrated duel
between Cobden and Delane, in which the great editor
lashed out somewhat viciously at the mild radicaUsm of the
Manchester school, Courtney's sympathies were with the
latter ; but he shared the general impression that neither
of the antagonists had enhanced his reputation.

From Professor Cairnes

December 22, 1863. — I agree with you that Cobden had a
good case and has played it with but indifferent skill ; nor has
his position been improved by his later strokes of play. At the
same time I have no words to express my disgust at Delane's
conduct throughout. Perhaps too it will be found that that
other question of " dividing the lands of the rich among the
poor" — as I would express it, of factlitating the acquisition of
land by the cultivators — ^may survive the labouring of the
Times.

It was a great satisfaction to Cairnes to discover a httle
later that his own somewhat advanced opinions were shared
by Comlney.

From Professor Cairnes

April 6, 1866. — I am delighted to find that your opinions
on the land question are " revolutionary " and " socialistic."
Somehow I fancied that on this point you were rather strictly
orthodox, and have even felt afraid sometimes to touch on the
subject with you lest I should discover a gulf between us in a
matter on which I am inclined to feel rather strongly. But I
shaU know better in future.

The Professor's bitter disKke of Delane's poHcy and
methods tempered his satisfaction at his friend's appoint-
ment.

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 75

From Professor Cairnes

July 17, 1864. — I am sincerely glad to hear you are so active
in the Times, though I could have wished that your pen had
been enlisted on the other side.

November 28, 1864. — Mr. Delane, I fancy, would place the
" golden age " — ^if the Union were only once split in two and
reform aspirations stifled — somewhere in this present year of
grace.

Mr. Stebbing, his friend and colleague, who succeeded
Dasent as Assistant Editor in 1870, has kindly contributed
a survey of Courtney's connection with Printing House
Square :

"To be a leader-writer on the Times has always been
esteemed a distinction from the days of Edward Sterhng,
the original Thunderer, In Courtney's time a mystery of
no very dark kind encircled the occupation. A man scarcely
could disappear more or less regularly from a party at a
friend's house shortly before ten o'clock at night without
remark. Everybody knew the cause, though it was the
fashion not to give it a name. The fact could not be hidden
from Courtney's circle, now wide, at Lincoln's Inn, and it
spread — an open secret. Within Printing House Square,
where there were seniors of his on the staff, he soon made
his mark. Particular lines in the paper's policy, fighting
lines, were reserved for him. An editor likes to believe
any in his troop ready on occasion to condescend to trifles.
Courtney could, when the humour was on him. Thus, I
remember, he volunteered for a romantic defence of the
Bargee people against the reduction of its Bedouins of
inland waters within too strict educational discipline. It
was very pleasant pleading. The editorial authority for
its own part was too sagacious often to waste a man-at-
arms of this extraordinary worth upon letting off fire-
works.

" Delane among his many great editorial gifts had a
wonderful instinct and experience in foreign politics. He
expected writers on them to reflect with fair closeness his
spirit. He would consider, but might or might not be

76 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

moved to accept, deviations. In domestic legislation, for
which he cared less, he was far from being dictatorial.
Courtney, he recognised, had studied and thought on such
questions, and was to be edited not repressed. After as
well as before I joined the inner circle of the paper, Courtney
and I never discussed agreements or disagreements of the
sort. I am certain he had no reason to be dissatisfied.
Morahsts may dilate with satisfaction on the short span of
joumahstic vitahty. It would be well for budding statesmen
if they took a good long course of Courtney's easily dis-
covered leaders on any much-debated legislative reform.
The trenchant, massive logic, the exposure of ignorance,
the downright deahng with irrelevance ! He did not affect
or care to be a styhst. Style itself in its place he appreciated.
When words were to be followed by acts he never paused
for one to turn a sentence. Sound, sturdy English was
enough for him. He might be dogmatic ; he was never
obscure, never professorial, never from beginning to end
of an article lost sight of its object. Parliamentary advo-
cates of a position attacked by him felt obliged to reply to
an argument of his in the Times, as if it had been urged
from the opposite side of the House. On one memorable
question, that of the Minority Vote, it will scarcely be
disputed that support by him in the Times was mainly
answerable for its acceptance. He had a right to be satis-
fied ; I never knew him to boast of the achievement. The
single exception to the rule of which I am aware has been
recorded by himself.

" Personally, a few weeks before his death, he recalled
by a letter in the Times a leader of his which protested
against the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. French
and German diplomacy before the war had been ahke
guilty of shameless plotting against weaker innocent states.
Great Britain had no cause to approve of either Government.
She had the happiness through her streak of silver sea to be
able to stand neutral and exercised the right. The Times
had not from the first doubted as to the military result.
Without the least partisanship it chronicled the stages.
Consideration was required in reminding exultant victors

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 77

of the perilous consequences to their tranquillity of rapacity.
I rejoice in Courtney's powerful warning in the name of the
Times against a violence apparent even to Bismarck. Alas
for the world, alas for Germany, that militarism was supreme
and would not listen to friendly, even to native counsels
of moderation !

" An ordinary leading article of the old-fashioned length
means a night's hard brain-work and pen-work of some
three hours. Trained intelligence in that time will yield
good thought. Courtney after early days could anticipate
his subject, and grudged no labour on preparation. If it.
were a Bill, he had dissected, pondered the text and any
preliminary discussion. Frequently he managed to hear
a debate from the Strangers' Gallery in the Commons, or
in the ventilating vault beneath the House. Eventually he
received from the Speaker the privilege of entry within the
House at discretion. The act of courtesy was for himself
a foretaste. Long since he had given up such slight care
as he ever had for success at the Bar. He retained his
share in Chambers for the convenience of their comparative
neighbourhood to Printing House Square. His spring at
eminence in journalism was nerved by the relationship to a
career in politics. As a matter of course he had declined
an offer by Mr. John Walter, the then principal proprietor
and manager of the Times, of the City, Financial or Money
Article editorship. He was not of a nature to intimate
his ultimate ambition. None of his intimates can, however,,
have been surprised when, on a vacancy in 1876 for the
Cornish borough of Liskeard, he declared himself a candidate
and was elected."

Though the Cobdenite lamb could hardly be expected
to lie down peacefully beside the Palmerstonian lion, the
new recruit quickly estabhshed the friendliest relations,
with his chief ; and the two men often attended the debates
together and dined in company. The end of the Civil War
in America a year after his appointment removed the main,
bone of contention ; and during Gladstone's first Ministry
the Times advanced from its cautious Whiggism to a stand-
point of moderate Liberalism, supporting the disestablish.-

78 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

ment of the Irish Church, the Irish Land Bill of 1870, the
ballot, the abolition of purchase in the army, and even the
principle of minority representation. Delane recognised
to the full Courtney's range of info'rmation, independent
judgment and powers of work, and, knowing the views of
his several Ueutenants, he entrusted to each such orders
as he knew could be conscientiously and cheerfully obeyed.
The routine of a leader-writer's life has been vividly
described by Dean Wace : " Delane generally came away
from dinner in time to reach Printing House Square about
ten P.M., or at least before eleven, and then he had to bring
to bear upon the materials laid before him, whether of the
telegraph, or of parliamentary reporters or correspondents'
letters, the knowledge of the real position of affairs which
he had been gaining during the day. There were generally
two or three leader-writers in attendance, in separate rooms,
and in a short time after his arrival he would send to each
of them, unless they had been previously instructed, the
subject he wished them to treat. If its treatment were
obvious, he would leave them to themselves with no more
than a verbal message. But if it were a matter of difficulty
or doubt he would soon come into the writer's room, and in
a few minutes' conversation indicate the hne which it was
desirable to take and the considerations which t^e writer
should have in the background. He never gave these
suggestions in such detail as to hamper original treatment
on the writer's part. A few interesting and humorous
observations would suffice to illustrate the true state of the
question and to indicate the purpose to be kept in view,
and then the more original the writer's treatment of the
subject the better he was pleased. His influence in such
conversations was due, not so much to his authority as
editor, as to the impression he produced of mastery of the
whole situation. To talk to him was hke talking to the
great political or social world itself, and one's mind seemed
to move in a larger sphere after a short discussion with
him. He always Ustened patiently to enquiries or hesita-
tions, and was tolerant of everything but trivialities. He
watched with the utmost care not merely the substance and

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 79

the general argument of an article, but every detail of
expression. He could correct commas at 3.30 a.m., and
would write one of his brilliant little notes at that hour to
warn a writer against an incorrect expression. He was
very considerate if one of his subordinates was in real
difficulty, as from illness or domestic trouble, but in the
ordinary course of work he would take no excuses. A man
must do the work given him, and do it well, or else Delane
had no place for him,"

The leader-writers of the Tivies formed a band, the
members of which were as a rule unknown to one another.
It was said of Delane that he " kept his beasts in separate
cages," and if they met in the passages or on the stairs it
was not etiquette to speak. " You will no doubt be sur-
prised to hear that I knew nothing of Lord Courtney in the
old Delane days," writes Dean Wace, " To the best of my
belief I never met him in Printing House Square during
the seventeen years I worked there. I knew his name as
a fellow leader-writer, and I was aware sometimes of his
presence in an adjoining room ; and a misdirected letter
from Delane to him once came into my hands. But I
believe I never once saw him until I met him and I think
Lady Courtney one day at dinner at Mr, Stebbing's house."
The dinner-party took place some years after all three had
severed their connection with the Times.

The Times leaders were suggested and revised by the
editor, who was not less critical of the form than of the
substance. " However trivial or lofty the subject," writes
George Brodrick, " he expected it to be treated in good
simple English, without slang or technicality. But I never
found him unduly censorious. He scarcely ever corrected
what I had written, and never altered its sense, though he
would occasionally strike out a sentence or even a paragraph
which might commit the paper too far." ^ When, however,
questions of high policy were involved the writer was some-
times little more than a shorthand clerk, so precise were his
instructions and so drastic the revision. For instance, in
the leaders which record the passing of Cobden, Lincoln and

^ Memories and Impressions, chap. vii.

8o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Palmerston in 1865, though the pen was held by Courtney,
we hear the authentic accents of Delane. Here is the verdict
of Printing House Square on the greatest of Free Traders.
" That his political career was not faultless few would deny,
and it would be idle in us, who have often had occasion to
differ from him, to conceal it. Outside the range of economic
doctrine he ran athwart the opinions of his countrjnmen.
His remonstrances during the Russian war were so little
effectual that he resolved to retire for a season from pubhc
life should such a crisis recur. The explanation of this
anomaly may perhaps be found in the defects of his early
training. Introduced when very young into a business
life, his notion of the State was Uttle more than that of a
machinery to secure the punctual observance of commercial
relations. Had he received the classical education which
he often took occasion to contemn, he would probably
have escaped from such Hmited views and have sympathised
with wider aspirations." No less grudging was the tribute
to Lincoln, whom the Times had combated until victory
declared itself unmistakably on his side. While admitting
that " in spite of drawbacks of manner and errors of taste
he slowly won for himself the respect and confidence of all,
and his perfect honesty speedily became apparent," Delane
is unaware that he is dealing with one of the noblest figures
of the modem world. When, however, we pass from
Cobden and Lincoln to Palmerston, we exchange the cold
grey sky for a pageant of Venetian colouring. " Among
the statesmen who sleep in the Abbey there may be some
whose intellectual power wiU be estimated by after genera-
tions above that of Lord Palmerston, but none of whom it
can be said that he was more beloved by his contemporaries.
His one thought was the honour and glory of England."

When Palmerston left the arena Delane sorrowfully
admitted that Lord RusseU, " the representative of the
narrowest school of Whiggism," was for the moment in-
evitable. But behind the ageing Prime Minister stood
Gladstone, to whom all eyes turned. The Whig Delane
had no great love for either the Liberal Gladstone or the
Tory Disraeli ; but his attitude towards the new leader of

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 8i

the House was certainly not more critical than that of his
latest recruit. "If we were required to name the quality
of Mr. Gladstone's mind which chiefly detracts from the
great gifts he possesses and mars the influence he would
otherwise wield," wrote Courtney in a four-column review
of his Financial Statements, " we should point to his weak
feeling of proportion. And every one must have noticed
his remarkable fertility of belief impelling him to ardent
and confident utterances on subjects which others approach
with doubt and hesitation. He muses for a season over a
particular subject, and its importance rapidly rises in his
mind. The counter-checks and qualifications which are
involved in its relations with other facts are overlooked
or forgotten. His literary adventures are marked by the
same precipitancy and want of balance. He sees too many
objects to be constant to one, and he sees them too im-
perfectly to know that he ought to be constant to one.
Thus a man of great gifts is doomed to occupy a lower rank
than one of more restricted powers. Burke, with all his
genius and breadth of philosophy, was as a practical states-
man inferior to Pitt. Mr. Gladstone is an Anglican Burke,
and the distrust with which ordinary Englishmen regarded
his great original pursues him. Such men are reckoned
troublesome opponents but dangerous allies. While associ-
ated with them we know not whither we may be led, nor
what paradox we may be required to defend." These
stinging sentences were penned in 1864 ; and though the
writer was one day to learn something of the greatness of
" the Anglican Burke," he might have quoted them in
1886 as a prophetic denunciation of the fiery champion of
Home Rule.

Palmerston's longevity had postponed Parliamentary
Reform ; and the first task of the Russell Ministry was to
deal with the franchise. But though the need of some
advance was almost universally conceded, the widest
differences existed as to the changes that were desirable.
Four unsuccessful attempts had been made since 1832 ;
but their authors had been half-hearted, and public opinion
was indifferent till it was educated by Bright. Delane was

G

82 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

no democrat ; but he knew that the moment had come,
and he extended a steady though discriminating support
to the efforts of the Reformers. His views as to the necessity
and character of the advance, the need of redistribution and
minority representation, were shared by Courtney, to whom
it fell to write the leaders throughout the prolonged discus-
sions. Possessing the confidence of his chief, an exhaustive
acquaintance with the problem, and a clear idea of the
route he desired to travel, he exerted a real influence on
the changing course of events ; and he might without
presumption have claimed a place among the authors of the
second of our four Reform Bills.

From the outset Courtney insisted that the Government
should deal with the situation on comprehensive lines. " We
are now told," he wrote on February 20, " that simultane-
ously with the Franchise Bill a second Bill will be introduced
dealing with the question of redistribution. We are glad
to hear it. A perfect House of Commons ought to be a
representation in miniature of all the social forces of the
nation. It ought not to be possible to name any interest
which had not its peculiar defenders, to speak of any class
which could not point to representatives identified with
themselves. The actual House goes further than any
representative body in the world to realise this picture, but
it is still far behind what it might be made. The vulgar
theories of universal suffrage, to which mere reductions of
the franchise point, are of course absolutely incompatible
with perfect representation. A mere Franchise Bill could
not pass." The rumour was unfounded ; and when the
Franchise Bill was introduced on March 12 he gave vent to
his angry disappointment. " It is impossible," he wrote,
" to feel otherwise than languid and careless about a measure
which would only unsettle the whole electoral system."
The changes were limited to England and Wales, and there
was no reference to redistribution, without which it would
never pass. An amendment to the Second Reading de-
clining to reduce the franchise till the Government produced
a complete scheme for the representation of the people was
only defeated by a majority of five. The Ministry took

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 83

fright and promised a Redistribution Bill. The new
measure, introduced eariy m May, was welcomed as " fair
and moderate," " so simple and practical that we ask why
it was not introduced before." There was, however, no
great enthusiasm for Reform, and the Whig recalcitrants,
following Lowe into the Cave of Adullam, combined with
the Tory opposition and defeated the Government in Com-
mittee on an amendment to substitute rating for rental.

Lord Russell was succeeded by Disraeli, who was quite
ready to execute a volte face, despite the repugnance to
Reform of Lord Cranbome and others of his colleagues.
The popular demand, moreover, was growing, and the
Hyde Park riots on July 25, which Courtney witnessed and
described in an anonymous letter to the Times, frightened
the waverers into action. At the beginning of 1867 he
reviewed the situation in a hopeful spirit. Since the leaders
were agreed on many points, the problem should be simple.
Delay was dangerous, and genuine reformers should accept
any practical suggestions from whatever quarter. " With
a Conservative Ministry in power and a strong but friendly
Opposition," he added on February 18, " it ought to be
possible to carry a change neither half-hearted nor departing
from the ancient lines of the constitution. We appeal to
all parties to join in a sincere attempt." When, however,
the Government scheme saw the hght, it was even more
soundly belaboured than that of Lord Russell. It was
" the worst scheme ever introduced," and its fancy fran-
chises were impossible. Mill's gallant attempt to secure
woman suffrage was doomed to failure ; and Courtney
concentrated his attention on the need for minority re-
presentation. " The question of the hour," he wrote on
March 13, " is. What is the best mode of preventing the
benefits of representative government from being drowned
in the enfranchisement of the most numerous classes of the
nation ? Plurahty of votes is impossible ; but cumulative
voting for constituencies returning three members will
secure diversity of counsel. How far it should be carried
is a matter for discussion ; but as to its policy there is
really no question." When Mill put down a resolution

84 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

enabling electors in different parts of the country to combine
for the election of a representative, the proposal was dis-
missed by the Times as miinteUigible and impracticable.
The true policy was the cmnulative vote which would repre-
sent every party in proportion to its numbers. " The
Representation of Minorities," wrote Courtney on June 3,
"is an unfortunate phrase. It suggests the notion of weak,
helpless persons crying for some unusual assistance in the
attempt to keep their place in the struggle for hfe." The
cumulative vote was fair to the majority no less than to
the minority, for both would secure their rights and no
more than their rights. " Never in the memory of the
present generation has the House of Commons been so free
from prejudices as at this moment. All propositions have
a chance. The cumulative vote must be adopted if dis-
passionately examined. The Government, having passed
the franchise, seem to have come to the end of their tether.
The House is thus free to entertain suggestions from which
it would have shrunk as visionary six months ago."

Courtney's labours were warmly appreciated by the
friends of proportional representation.

From Professor Cannes

June 7, 1867. — I am delighted to see the efforts you are
making to arouse the country to the importance of redistribu-
tion and more especially to the unspeakable importance of
liberating independent voters from the despotism of local
majorities. I observed a few weeks ago that you were bold
enough to propound the principle of Hare's scheme ; ^ and I
thought, Is it possible that the Times is about to be the apostle
of a truth that is not commonplace ? Alas, as I feared, the
oracle knew not the precious things it was uttering. In the
article on Mill's speech it has effectually vindicated its essential
Philistinism.

Caimes was a little too severe on the Times, for Delane
accepted the principle of minority representation ; but

1 " Hare's book," remarked Caimes to Courtney on one occasion,
" proves itself. As you read it you can no more resist the conclusions
than you can resist a proposition in EucUd." See Courtney's obituary
notice of Hare in Athenesum, May 16, 1891.

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 85

his support would have been lukewarm and ineffective
without the apostolic fervour of his lieutenant. " I
have told Courtney he may ride his cumulative hobby
to-morrow," he wrote to Dasent before leaving town for
the Ascot races, " and he proposes to quote the great
authorities in its favour. Don't let him ride it too far." ^

The Redistribution Bill was introduced on June 13 ;
but it found little favour in Printing House Square. In
Committee Lowe proposed the cumulative vote without
success ; but the Bill emerged in an improved form. " It
is the monument of many minds," wrote Courtney on July
12. "It embodies the ideas of no Cabinet and no Minister.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has conducted it through
the House, but he is not the author of the Bill. The work
of the Ministry was valueless." On July 31 he raised his
voice in thanksgiving for the acceptance of Lord Cairns's
amendment providing for the representation of minorities
in constituencies returning three members. Lord Malmes-
bury opposed the proposal on behalf of the Government,
as Disraeli had opposed it in the House of Commons ; but
nearly every speaker joined in its praises. " Such a
triumph of reason and truth may well startle us. The
supposed crotchet of yesterday has become a fact. The
voters who are now hopelessly outvoted will start into
fresh vitality, enfranchised in deed, not only in word."
Two days later a leader entitled " Victory " joyfully re-
corded the Commons' acceptance of the amendment, despite
the antagonism of Gladstone and Bright. " Minority repre-
sentation," he wrote in 19 14, " became a living question
in the debates of 1867, when Mr. Mill and Mr. Fawcett,
supporters of the Bill, and Mr. Lowe and Lord Robert
Cecil, strong opponents of it, pressed for the introduction
of the principle into the measure, which introduction was
ultimately carried despite the continued opposition of the
three leading poUtical personages of the time — Mr. Glad-
stone, Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Bright. The controversy was
fierce to a degree now scarcely to be apprehended." ^ He

^ Delane's Life, ii. 203.
* Memories of John Westlake, chap. iv.

86 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

does not add that the partial victory was largely due to
the powerful advocacy of a certain leader-writer on the
Times.

Three years after the passing of the Reform Bill it was
Courtney's responsible duty to convey to the world Delane's
opinions on the Franco-German War.^ The views of the
two men on the general merits of the struggle coincided.
Both of them knew and loved France ; but neither of them
admired the character or the policy of her ruler. Never
had the oracle of Printing House Square spoken with more
unfaltering accents than when Napoleon IIL plunged
madly into war. The conflict was denounced as a crime,
the pretext as " disgracefully frivolous." " The war is for
the Rhine, which has for centuries been the avowed object
of French ambition. Every German has passed his life in
pondering on this very struggle, which has come at last.
The Emperor stakes his dynasty on success." The publica-
tion of Benedetti's draft treaty of 1867 in the issue of July
25 suppUed a text for further denunciations of the Imperial
mischief-maker ; and when the danger to Belgium thus
revealed stirred the Government to threaten with war
whichever belligerent violated its neutrality, the Times was
emphatic in its approval.

Courtney's sentiments of grief and indignation were
shared by the leaders of the historic parties. The Prime
Minister described the war as the most melancholy event
of the century, and Disraeh declared that it had been begun
on pretexts that would have been considered disgraceful
even in the eighteenth century. When the news of the
early defeats came pouring in, wrath against the Emperor
was mingled with sympathy for his suffering subjects.
" Unhappy France, unhappy Emperor ! " wrote the Times
on August 16. " What madness wantonly provoked this
unequal contest ? " Yet France was far from innocent.
When Thiers set forth after Sedan on his mission to the

1 " Nothing shall ever persuade me except the event," wrote Delane
to W. H. Russell, " that the Prussians will withstand the French, and I
would lay my last shilUng on Casquette against Pumpernickel " (Atkins,
Life of W. H. Russell, ii. 165). Courtney disagreed and sent his chief a
pencilled note, " Are you sure ? "

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 87

Courts of Europe in search of mediators, he was informed
with almost brutal plainness that he had nothing to hope
from England. "It is impossible to acquit the French
nation of complicity in the unprovoked attack upon
Germany. France cannot be encouraged in the hope of
escaping scatheless from a war she wantonly undertook.
The dethronement of the Emperor cannot free the nation
from the penalties of sanctioning the Imperial policy.
The war must go on till the French people are ready to
acknowledge that they have been guilty of wrong towards
their neighbours and to give sureties against a repetition
of it." Moreover, Thiers was not the man for such a
mission. " Above all others he helped to develop that
hateful idea of French dictatorship in Europe which was at
once the secret of the Emperor's power and the cause of his
downfall."

Courtney, like Delane, desired Germany to win, and
declared that the King of Prussia had " at every step given
evidence of that spirit of simple piety which animates his
breast." But he had no desire for a vindictive settlement,
Germany was advised to seek securities against future
aggression, but not to humiliate a proud nation. " We
ask Germans to reconsider their demand for Alsace-Lorraine.
The annexation would bring a legacy of diihculty to Ger-
many and leave France with a constantly irritating sense
of injury." The wiser course would be to neutralise the
provinces by denuding them of fortresses and troops. No
British statesman or journalist was a more ardent supporter
of Germany than Delane ; and Courtney's desire to restrain
the conquerors in their hour of triumph caused him some
annoyance. " I have asked Mozley to write a leader on
mediation," he wrote to Dasent, September 30, "a subject
on which C. is hopelessly wrong. I suspect he is inspired
by Fawcett, and he would have us perpetually scolding at
Bismarck and telling him he must not take Alsace and
Lorraine, and offering to mediate for him without these
conditions, on which, as I need not tell you, aU Germany
has set its heart. The Cabinet to-day unanimously decided
against this fretful poUcy, and it is of no use snapping at

88 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

them about it. But if you give C. a chance, he will. He
is, however, very good to write on any question connected
with the war into which neither mediation nor the conditions
of peace enter." ^

At the outbreak of war the Times had suggested that
Great Britain should cultivate friendly relations with
Russia and Austria with a view to joint mediation at some
future date ; and on October 15 it declared that the time
had come for the three chief neutrals to propose the dis-
mantling of Alsace-Lorraine and to guarantee active support
to either belligerent in future if attacked by the other
without first submitting the dispute to their arbitration.
Such a proposal would probably be rejected ; but it was
worth making, since the war was growing in ferocity.
" It was several days before the 15th of October," wrote
Lord Courtney, forty-seven years later, in reprinting the
leader, 2 " that I first suggested to Mr. Delane the idea of
my writing an article proposing mediation. He was not
favourable to the proposal ; and indeed he had known on
the 30th of September that the Cabinet had rejected media-
tion. He and I, however, continued casual talks on the
subject until he consented to my making the trial. I must
admit that the result justified his hesitation." The sugges-
tion of mediation surprised many readers of the Times ;
but Lord Morley has revealed the fact that the Prime
Minister himself desired to co-operate with the other neutrals
in a protest against the transfer of Alsace-Lorraine without
reference to the wishes of their inhabitants, but failed to
carry the Cabinet.

A few days later the British Government proposed an
armistice for the summoning of a Constituent Assembly,
and urged Russia and Austria to join in the recommenda-
tion. The invitation was naturally refused, and on the
surrender of Metz the Times exclaimed " Finis Galliae,"
and called on her to recognise her defeat. If the price
of peace was indeed the surrender of Alsace and part of
Lorraine, she must make up her mind to pay it. There was

* Delane' s Life, ii. 270-71.
* Alsace-Lorraine : A Memorial of i8yo.

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 89

now a good deal of friction between Courtney and Delane,
who explained the situation to Dasent on November 9, on
the eve of his autumn holiday. " The most important
thing I have to tell you about things here is that C, whose
zeal and assiduity cannot be too highly praised, has taken
a wrong twist about the war, and especially about the
negotiations, and wishes to be violently anti-Ministerial.
I am no worshipper of Gladstone, and think he has shewn
himself eminently ' parochial ' all through the war ; but
Granville has, I believe, done all that could be done with
any safety or indeed any advantage. I think it was we
who principally egged him on into proposing the armistice,
for which C. now would bitterly reproach him. I was
obliged to-night to leave out his article on the speeches
at the Guildhall. It was so violently adverse that I am
•sure it would have jarred upon the popular sentiment.
I am very sorry for this, for C. has worked most
manfully ; indeed I have never known anybody take so
much trouble to cram into his article the last scrap of
intelligence." ^

Courtney's opposition to the annexation of the Rhine
Provinces roused the ire of an even greater man than
Delane. On November 18 the Times pubhshed the cele-
brated letter from the veteran historian of Frederick the
Great which was read with rapture and remembered with
gratitude by Germans all over the world. "It is probably
an amiable trait of human nature," began Carlyle, " this
cheap pity and newspaper lamentation over fallen and
afflicted France ; but it seems to me a very idle, dangerous
and misguided feeling as applied to the cession of Alsace
and Lorraine, and argues a most profound ignorance of the
conduct of France towards Germany for long centuries
back." He proceeded to review the history of the border-
land, and concluded that it would be folly for Germany
not to raise up a boundary fence between herself and such
a neighbour. The letter closed on a note of heartfelt
thanksgiving. " That noble, patient, deep, pious and solid
Germany should be at length welded into a nation and

^ Delane' s Life, ii. 270-71.

90 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap-

become Queen of the Continent, instead of vapouring,
vainglorious, gesticulating, quarrelsome, restless and over-
sensitive France, seems to me the hopefuUest pubHc fact
that has occurred in my time."

The same issue of the Times which printed Carlyle's
letter contained a dignified reply by Courtney in the form
of a leading article. France, he admits, had attacked
neighbours of whose union she was jealous, and had been
beaten, and must suffer appropriate penalties. " If it were
necessary for the future security of German peace that a
portion of the French people should be torn from the body
to which they chng, the claim to sever Alsatians and
Lorrainers from their countrymen would be just. If it is
unnecessary, much less if it threatens to be injurious, it
must be condemned ; for it overrides for no purpose the law
of freedom that must prevail unless supreme considerations
of safety put it aside. Mr. Carlyle gives no sign that he
has balanced these considerations, but, treating provinces
as chattels and their inhabitants as vermin that may
incidentally swarm about them, pronounces it to be per-
fectly just, rational and wise that Germany should take
Alsace and Lorraine. We do not wish to imitate this
dogmatism. Is it necessary to the peace of Germany ?
That is the question. Are the other securities the French
people are wilUng to give for their future behaviour suffi-
cient ? If they are, the demand of the conquerors, being
unnecessary, is unjust, irrational and foohsh."

While Europe was watching the collapse of France with
breathless interest, Russia suddenly flung a new apple of
discord into the diplomatic world. Gortschakoff's circular,
denouncing the Black Sea clauses of the Treaty of 1856,
was received on November 15, and on November 16 the
Times expressed " profound regret, not unmixed with
indignation." It had believed Alexander II. to stand for
peace ; but it had been grievously disappointed. The
circular had reopened the Eastern question at the wrong
time and in the worst manner. It was impossible to admit
for a moment the claim of Russia to free herself from the
Treaty of Paris. If this was allowed, what trust could be

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 91

reposed in any treaty ? Lord Granville had issued a grave
protest, and we could not recede from our position. " The
prospect of peace may at any moment vanish from our
eyes," wrote the Times on Novenber 19. " We have to
face the possibility that before 1870 closes every one of the
Great Powers may be in arms. It does not rest with us
to maintain peace. It is impossible to allow the force of
public law to be overthrown in this manner. If Russia
proceeds to fortify the shores of the Black Sea and to launch
vessels of war on its waters, our duty will be painful but
unavoidable. We should never enforce a treaty at variance
with the higher law ; but this was innocent, if not laudable."
The menacing tone of the Times was challenged by Mill
and Froude, who maintained that, though resentment was
justifiable, not every breach of treaty should be followed
by hostihties, and that England should not fight if Russia
refused to withdraw.^ When Gortschakoff's bomb burst in
London Delane was on his way to Italy, and Dasent was in
command at Printing House Square. The editor naturally
resented Russia's high - handed action ; but Courtney's
polemics were a little too hot for his taste.

/. T. Delane to G. W. Dasent

Naples, November 24. — We found Saturday's paper on our
arrival, and C.'s article on Gortschakoff, and Mill's and Froude 's
letters, I confess, rather frightened me. I most wiUingly accept
firmness and plain speaking as a means of preventing war, and
therefore approve of Granville's reply to Gortschakoff ; but I
by no means accept it as an engagement binding us to consider
the infraction of the treaty as a casus belli. Every one of our
allies is equally bound, and it is no part of our duty to perform
the whole police of the world. I am all for protesting as vigor-
ously as possible, but not for undertaking any obligation which
our allies will not share.

There is a certain piquancy in the notion of the Philo-
sophic Radical's bellicose ardour being held in check by
his Palmerstonian chief. He was promptly switched off
Russia, and the leader of November 30, the work of another

^ A long private letter to Courtney is printed in Mill's Letters, ii. 281.

92 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

hand, breathes a more accommodating spirit. The treaty,
it declared, must be maintained till it was modified by the
same authority that made it. " But there is no immediate
danger — if we are true to ourselves, no danger at all. Russia
has challenged the parties to the Treaty in a document more
offensive than any put forth in the present century. But a
mere insult is not a sufficient cause of war." Let Prussia,
who was doubtless as pained as Great Britain, arrange a
conference of the signatories of the Treaty of 1856.

When Delane was back Courtney was allowed to write
on Russia again. But the crisis was past, and the idea of
a Conference proved generally acceptable. His leader of
March 15, 1871, hailed with unqualified satisfaction the
Treaty of London, which recognised the fait accompli but
secured an acknowledgement that no Power could free
itself from the obligations of a Treaty without the consent
of its co-signatories. " Thus we are honourably free from
the guarantee of a restriction to which our predecessors had
pledged us, but which we could not but regard as impolitic
if not unjust."

The second half of Courtney's service under Delane was
far less eventful, both at home and abroad, than the first.
While extending a general support to the Gladstone Ministry,
the editor allowed his lieutenant to wage victorious war
against the Irish University BiU of 1873 ; but that was the
last political topic on which he took or desired to take a
strong line. The first two years of Disraeli's rule were
uneventful ; and when the crisis in the Near East reached
its height he was able to express his opinions in the House
of Commons without editorial supervision.

Like other members of the staff of the Times, Courtney
was frequently called upon to produce articles of a non-
political character ; and his wide acquaintance with litera-
ture and art, science and scholarship, fitted him for his
exacting task. Among such contributions were obituary
notices of celebrities like Faraday and Bulwer Lytton,
Whewell and Boole, and leaders on such diverse themes as
Tyndall's Belfast Address, the Rubens Tercentenary, the
election of Leighton to the Presidency of the Royal Academy,

V PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE 93

Whistler's law-suit against Ruskin, an exhibition of Old
Masters, the novels of Ouida, and the death of Panizzi, the
masterful librarian of the British Museum, His intimate
knowledge of France lends peculiar interest to his character
studies of such men as Enfantin, the second founder of St.
Simonianism, and Prevost-Paradol, the most accomplished
publicist of the Second Empire. It was a pleasure to the
hfe-long student of Carlyle to be entrusted with the duty
of pronouncing judgement on the Edinburgh Rectorial
Address, in which he discovered " the old truths, the old
platitudes and the old errors," but also a new and welcome
mellowness. " No one would claim for Mr. Gladstone (his
immediate predecessor in the office) the same intensity of
power ; but in his abundant energy, his wide sympathy
with popular movement, and his real if vague faith in the
activity and progress of modem life, he conveys lessons of
trust in the present and hopefulness for the future which
would be ill-exchanged for the patient and somewhat sad
stoicism of Mr. Carlyle." The last of his leaders was a
finely-phrased tribute to George Eliot.

Delane had worked night and day since 1841, and as
early as 1875 rumours of his impaired health began to
circulate ; but he was naturally indignant at groundless
reports of his intended retirement.

Delane to Dasent

June 15, 1875. — Please contradict the report in Vanity
Fair that I have resigned and that Courtney is to succeed me.
Neither is true.^

The great renunciation, however, could only be post-
poned for two years, and in 1877 he had convinced himself
that he must say farewell to the journal in which he had
found the happiness and the pride of his Ufe. " There was
much wild speculation as to Delane 's successor," writes
Alexander Shand. " More than one member of the staff
was named as being in the running, and gossip insisted with

^ Delane' s Life, ii. 316.

94 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, v

great confidence that the mantle was to light on the
shoulders of a distinguished Government official. The
knowing ones were all wrong ; no one named the winner,
and the decision came as a surprise. One evening when
dining with Mr. Stebbing — ^he had virtually edited the
paper in Delane's decline — I made the acquaintance of Mr.
Chenery, an eminent Orientalist, Professor of Arabic at
Oxford, and one of Delane's most valued collaborators.
As Chenery told me afterwards, ' That evening I had my
commission in my pocket.' In many respects he was
admirably equipped ; but he had taken to the leadership
too late in life and he could scarcely be called a popular
editor." i

Before appointing Chenery the proprietor of the Times
had naturally weighed the claims of other possible candi-
dates for the post. Mr. Thursfield has kindly contributed
his recollections of his first visit to Bearwood in the autumn
of 1877.2 " After telhng me that Mr. Delane had resigned
and that Mr. Chenery had been appointed in his place,
an appointment which had been arranged some months
previously — Mr. Walter added, " Some people seem to
have thought that I should appoint Mr. Courtney to be
editor, but I never entertained that idea myself. He is a
very able man, and he has done very good work for the
paper. But he is not the man to be Editor of the Times,
and I am fortified in that opinion by what I have seen of
him in Parliament.' " Courtney himself had no desire for
the post, for his eyes were turned towards a Parliamentary
career. " I remember once, long ago," wrote John Scott
in 1884, " on one of our walks we talked of your being
Editor of the Times. You said you would not have the
place if it were offered. I often think of it when I see the
Times floundering now. The abihty is there, but the direc-
tion seems to have lost all insight. It would have been a
great power in your hands."

^ Days of My Life, p. 201.
' Letter to the author, July 4, 1918.

CHAPTER VI

TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS

Throughout life Courtney's favourite relaxation was
foreign travel ; and when the monthly cheques began to
arrive from Printing House Square with amiable regularity
he felt at liberty to indulge his taste on a more generous
scale. In 1864, the first autumn of his affluence, he visited
Brittany, a country of pecuHar interest to a Cornishman,
and sent home long accounts of " our Breton kinsmen."
" I am much impressed with the similarity between the
Cornish and Breton type of face," he told his father. " I
have been struck with it again and again." He traversed
the country from end to end, armed with fimile Souvestre ^
and other guides, and ended with a brief visit to Paris.
Two years later he crossed the Atlantic and visited the
United States on the morrow of the Civil War. In 1867
his sisters Margaret and Louise joined him in a seven
weeks' tour through France, Switzerland and Northern
Italy. In 1868 he paid his first visit to Ireland. In
1869 he chose Greece and Constantinople for his goal,
carrying with him diplomatic introductions supplied by
Lord Clarendon at the instance of Delane, and voyaging
down the Danube with Edward Dicey. In the year of
the Franco-German War, for the first and last time, he
scorned delights and lived laborious days. In 1871,
accompanied by his sister Louise, he travelled by Trier,
the Moselle, Coblenz, Nuremberg and Munich to Venice,
Florence and Rome.

95

96 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY

To his Father

Rome, October 15, 1871. — St. Peter's is disappointing. Some
of the side aisles have been closed for the Council and have not
been reopened. The exterior cannot compare in beauty with
St. Paul's. The pictures in the Vatican are very good, but I
never much admired the Transfiguration in engravings, and I
have not been converted by seeing the original. I much prefer
the Dresden Madonna. Domenichino's St. Jerome is exceedingly
clever but tricky. Guido's Aurora is as beautiful as it may be
conceived to be. Raphael's School of Athens and the Schools
of Theology are also wonderfully fine. The Laocoon, the D3dng
Gladiator, the Antinous, etc. come up fully to expectation, and
the Gladiator surpasses it. Christian Rome is far from being
so high in merit as ancient Rome. Perhaps the most interesting
thing we have seen is San Clemente.

The planning of summer journeys is a winter pastime ;
but occasionally the programme was only determined on
the eve of a holiday.

To his sister Louise

August 2, 1872. — I am very much puzzled where to go. I
had thought of Canada and also of the Pyrenees, and my range
is rather restricted by the novel circumstance that I must be
back some time before my lectures begin. My notion is to go
by steamer to Lisbon, Gibraltar and Cadiz, and then by another
steamer in the Mediterranean, making my way up through
Spain.

The programme was faithfully carried out. Taking
ship to Gibraltar via Lisbon and Cadiz,* he entered Spain
from the south and was soon revelling in the delights of
Granada.

To his sister Margaret

September i, 1872. — I sallied forth immediately to the
Alhambra. The prospect was glorious. The hiU of the Al-
hambra was behind, embowered in trees, poplars, figs, pome-
granates, and then a ravine, on the other side of which is the
Generalife with ancient cypresses and palms mingled with the

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 97

other trees, and behind these hills rose other hills finally ending
in the Sierra Nevada. Turning in the other direction Granada
with its huge cathedral lay at my feet, and opposite on a smaller
hill, the Moorish suburb. Granada owes not only the Alhambra
but all its prosperity to the Moors. They tapped the waters
that continually flow from the upper snows and, diverting their
course into hundreds of different channels, provided for the
irrigation of the whole of the hill sides and the great plain at
the base of the city. The Spaniards would never have taken
the trouble to establish this elaborate system ; but they have
had the good sense to keep it up. The Court of Lions at the
Crystal Palace is a faithful copy on a reduced scale of the original ;
but it is only a chamber of the whole, and no art could reproduce
the surrounding charm. You walk from hall to hall, all glorious
within, blue and gold and crimson, green, orange and purple,
and covered over and over with delicate curves and tracery,
with narrow windows and perforated arches, through which you
get glimpses of burning blue skies and green leaves, which tell
you how hot it is outside, and all the while you hear the murmur
of falling waters. A place of vast contentment. Deliciae
deliciarum.

In 1873 he sailed with his sister Louise for Canada,
where his brother Mortimer had made his home, enjoyed
some interesting conversations with the Governor General,
Lord Dufferin, and paid a second visit to the United States,
A year later he chose Germany for his autumn manoeuvres,
and spent three quiet weeks at Brunswick working at the
language, followed by his first visit to the capital.

To his sister Margaret

Berlin, September 28, 1874. — The city is full of big buildings,
but there is not one which excites admiration. It is also full
of monuments, to which additions are constantly made. The
last is a glorification of the late war, and if a Frenchman saw
it he would say, Sedan est venge. The BerHners themselves
admit its stupendous ugliness. Berlin and the Berliners con-
tinually remind me of New York and the Yankees. There is
the same type of architecture and of people. I am sometimes
surprised to hear people talk German instead of talking English
through the nose.

H

98 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

The French elegance of Sans Souci appealed to him far
more than the massive Teutonism of the capital. Extending
his tour eastwards he visited Posen and Breslau, returning
home through Dresden and Cassel.

The longest and most interesting journey of his Ufe was
made in the autumn of 1875. Travelling by Venice and
Brindisi he landed at Alexandria, where he stayed with
his old friend and correspondent John Scott, who had for
some years practised in the Consular Court and had recently
been appointed EngUsh Appeal Judge in the International
Court. Accompanied by his host he spent a fortnight at
Cairo, where he cUmbed the Great Pyramid and dined with
Nubar Pasha. A letter from Calcutta records his move-
ments and observations.

To J. H. Roby

Calcutta, December 28, 1875. — I landed at Bombay on
November 4. I stopped rather more than a fortnight in Egypt,
and enjoyed my stay immensely. The Prince of Wales arrived
four or five days after our steamer, and I saw the earlier part
of the festivities in his honour. Then I fled and came to Allaha-
bad without a break. The railway carriages here are arranged
for long journeys so that travelling is easy for those like myself
who can sleep easily, and I have accordingly done a good deal
of travelling at night. Agra (including Futtehpur Sikkree),
Delhi, the frontier country from Jhelum to Peshawar, Amritzar
and Benares were the most interesting in themselves ; but others
had associations. The ruins of the pomp of the Moguls are
very fine ; but they look as old as the ruins of Rome, which are
five times, or those of Egypt which are ten times, their antiquity.
It has been a slight drawback to find ever5rsvhere workmen busy
scraping, changing, renovating and painting by way of prepara-
tion for the Prince. Fancy the first vision of the Taj being a
gateway covered with a forest of bamboo scaifolding ! I am
not sure that this visit will be in any way beneficial. The
Europeans here (those at least who are not overburdened with
the care and responsibility of being his hosts) are pleased with
the entertainments that accompany the visit and flock in crowds
to the balls and levees, and the Native Princes enjoy the oppor-
tunity of wearing their best clothes and making a show of im-
portance, though there have been sad heart-burnings among

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 99

them in the way of precedence. The masses of the people
beheved at first that when the Prince came they would have
nothing to do but to present petitions to him and he would at
once cause all their miseries to cease ; they would throw them-
selves in his way as he rode in the streets and a word of his
would set all things right. They are now better informed, and
they turn out in large numbers to see fireworks and processions ;
but the Prince is an accidental part of the show. The permanent
result will apparently be nil.

The country is at once easy and difficult to govern. It is
easy to govern because, with the exception of a few hiU tribes,
the habit of mind of the people is one of submissiveness and
they are quite prepared to endure despotic command ; but on
the other hand they are very ignorant, very prejudiced, very
distrustful of change and very conservative, and if you try to
improve things you find the task very difficult. Show a work-
man a better and more expeditious way of doing his work and
he may follow it as long as you are looking on ; but turn your
back and he goes back to his old ways. AU this may of course
be paralleled at home ; but the difficulty here is that the govern-
ing race does not belong to the same world as the governed, and
there is no intermediate class to interpret and popularise the
good intentions of the English. All our regulations and improve-
ments— road-making, canal-making, sanitary laws — cost money,
and this evil is keenly felt. It is a characteristic fact that in
order to provide for local expenditure octrois have been estab-
lished in all the towns, because the people prefer them to rates.
They do not see how the octroi works and willingly agree to
have it instituted, while they would shew a camel-Hke temper
of complaint of the smallest direct tax. Yet they are docile,
they can learn, and if a man once gets their confidence they take
his teaching quickly and there is no occasion for despair. The
trains are crowded with third-class passengers, though they are
huddled together like sheep. Kerosene oil is burnt far and wide,
and I saw a tailor using a sewing machine in Lahore. Who shall
say the obstinacy of the native is insuperable ? The difficulties
in the way of prejudice and suspicion are quite as much on our
side as the other.

From this place I go by steamer to Madras and from Madras
to Hyderabad and Poona. You would be delighted with the
trees of the North-West — they grow to a great size and are
almost always green and beautiful in shape. Of course I have
had several new experiences. One was making the perambula-
tion of a district or parish with a settiement ofi&cer. We were

100 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

mounted on an elephant and in this way marched about the
fields attended by the village officials, the zemindar and stray
peasants who were cross-examined on crops, produce and prices,
while the map we carried with us was verified to see that every
patch, every tree, and every wall was exactly delineated on it.
Another experience was two or three days spent at Kupparthalla,
the capital of a small native state of that name, with Lepel
Griffin, who is administrating the principality — the Rajah him-
self being temporarily and perhaps permanently imbecile through
drink ; so we have stepped in to take care of his dominions. I
thus saw how a Native State is ruled. Going through the streets
of Benares, visiting its temples and its bazaars under the guid-
ance of a Brahmin, may be added as a third experience. Has
not Max Miiller said it was the dream of his life to realise it ?
But the Ganges does not efface the Thames.

Though the autumn hoHday was the great event of the
year, the Whitsun trip to Paris was no less keenly enjoyed.
He loved to visit the Salon, to revisit the Louvre, to appraise
the new purchases at the Luxembourg, to hear the latest
drama of Sardou or Dumas /^s. Versailles and St. Germain,
Fontainebleau and Chantilly, never lost their charm. There
were debates to attend, statesmen new and old to interview,
freetraders to strengthen in the faith. Last but not least,
there was the incomparable Blowitz, the permanent am-
bassador of Printing House Square to the French Republic.
On one occasion, when Courtney was accompanied by Mr.
Stebbing and Chenery was also making holiday in Paris,
Blowitz asked them all to dejeuner to meet Nubar, and
greeted them with the words, " The Times is in Paris."

Courtney's growing prosperity meant not only longer
holidays for himself but more of the sweets of life for the
members of his family. Birthdays had always brought
carefully chosen presents and affectionate letters, of which
the following is a specimen.

To his sister Margaret

April 15, 1874. — Ma CHiRE bien Aim]ee — To-morrow is the
great day, the birthday of birthdays, and we all hail it as
becomes faithful brothers. I shall be in attendance at the
House of Commons hearing the Budget and shall be probably

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS loi

dining with Delane afterwards as usual ; but the great circum-
stance of the day shall not be forgot. Yesterday I bought a little
cadeau, but was uncertain whether I should send it down or
keep it till your arrival : James recommends the latter so it is
to be kept to greet you with next week. I suppose we shall
still see you on Friday night. As to your journey, the following
is the sketch of what I should suggest. Folkestone, Boulogne,
Abbeville, Amiens, Rouen, Beauvais, Paris, Soissons, Rheims,
Laon, Amiens. I was down at Blackheath last Saturday, when
they were in good spirits ; Mrs. Cairnes asking when you were
coming up. Leslie Stephen had been invited, but had gone
over to Paris for the Easter week. Delane spent his Easter
in Paris and reported it looking charming. Au revoir, ma soeur
cherie ; nous vous desirous beaucoup. Que vous ayez beaucoup
des amies and encore plus de bonheur. Leonard.

No sooner had his brothers and sister passed beyond the
need of his quasi-parental care than the younger generation
began to knock at the door. The recollections of his niece,
Sarah Julyan, show that the services of the uncle were as
ungrudgingly rendered as had been those of the elder
brother.

" My earliest memories of Uncle Leonard are intimately
connected with his Christmas visits to Penzance. Every
member of the family looked forward eagerly to his arrival,
perhaps Grandfather most of all ; to me there was even
something mysterious — ^in the earhest days— in an uncle
who came down from London by the night train and ap-
peared on the scenes before breakfast. Then there were
always appropriate presents for all, usually something for
Grandfather which appealed to his artistic or literary tastes,
perhaps books for others, and for myself a brooch, a locket,
a book and once a beautiful pale heliotrope silk dress. I
do not remember that he ever gave me anything in the
nature of a toy or game but always something more enduring.
Sometimes during the Christmas season I had a party, and
Uncle Leonard helped to make it a happy gathering of my
friends by joining — and with much spirit — in the games.
I pass on to the time I spent at school in London from 1876
to 1878. Uncle Leonard and Uncle William lived in Queen

102 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chaf.

Anne's Gate, and I spent an occasional Saturday with them
and regularly passed my half-term holiday there, arriving
before dinner on Friday and being taken back on the follow-
ing Monday evening. These short stays were always
looked forward to with pleasure and thoroughly enjoyed as
they flew by. Two Saturday excursions stand out promin-
ently, one to Epping Forest, the other across Epsom Downs
to Leith Hill. After Uncle Leonard's late breakfast — he
was engaged nightly at the Times office — and my early
lunch, we set out, taking train to some convenient starting-
point and then beginning a long tramp, which took us all
the afternoon, and ended at some inn, where we had an
early dinner and then came back by train."

Courtney's joyous personahty and warmth of heart made
him a favourite with children outside his family circle. His
friendship with John Scott and his love of Boswell formed
links with Birkbeck Hill, who kept a school at Tottenham,
which was near enough for an afternoon visit, Mrs. Crump,
the editor of her father's letters, has kindly contributed her
recollections of the Times thunderer in holiday mood.

" I cannot date my early memories of Lord Courtney
with any precision. The first clear picture in my mind
must be placed early in the 'seventies. I see very clearly
Bruce Castle set in stretches of smooth lawn and beds of
briUiant geranium. The old house shows its brick through
the climbing roses in full flower. Father and Mother are
out on the lawn and we — ^perhaps all seven of us — are
pervading all about, one a little boy, with black hair and
solemn yet vivid brown eyes, long years ago dead. Along
the drive come my Uncle John Scott, home from Egypt
for the summer months, and with him his friend Courtney
in brown suit and buff Unen waistcoat. How clearly I can
see him and the curiously bright eyes under the thick eye-
brows, and the whimsical smile as we crowd round. ' Why,
he's all brown,' says the little boy. ' He's brown-eyed
Mr. Courtney.' It was obviously a link with himself in the
child's mind, and from that day for a long time it was

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 103

' brown-eyed Mr. Courtney ' with us children ; a playmate
we could romp with, maybe a bit outrageously on our part,
but then he could play and he could not tease. That quality
marked him out in my mind, a little girl with often more
high spirits than manners and yet a keen sensitiveness when
the moment of excitement passed.

" The second memory is rather of my ears than of my
eyes, though I see too a scene in all its details. It is in the
hall of Bruce Castle, a square hall with oak stair and wide
banisters and in the hall at the foot of the stairs a Sheraton
sideboard. Two boys are astride on the wide banister and
I sit careless on the sideboard. The manservant and a maid
pass to and fro and the three bad children make grabs at
the dishes, though they are not bad enough to play pirate
till after the guests in the dining-room beyond have eaten.
Dinners I suppose were mainly matters of business in my
father's schoolmaster Ufe ; an3rway they were solemn and
I know bored Father and Mother ahke. But this time
eager talk and quite child-Uke shouts of laughter reached us
every time the door opened. Quite an original sort of
dinner party obviously, and it was strange enough to live
on in my memory. I do not know who the guests aU were,
but I know Mr. Courtney was one.

" The third memory is wholly and gloriously ridiculous,
belonging to '79 or '80. My Uncle John Scott and Mr.
Courtney came down to our new home in Berkshire, as glad
I expect to escape from London in June for a night as my
Father and Mother were to welcome old friends in what
was something of a country wilderness to them. ' Now
then, Courtney,' says my uncle, ' we're all going to do as
we did in the train coming from Cairo to Alexandria. There

was and there (I forget names but I think they

were fellow judges in the International Court), and we
thought we'd welcome the guard. It's a giant sneeze.
Courtney you take tcha, I'm tche, Maurice, Norman, Lucy
tchi ! tcho ! tchu ! Now then, are you ready ? Go ! '
Mother looks a scrap startled at the terrific burst. Brown-
eyed Walter shares in with ' brown-eyed Mr. Courtney,'
We all sneeze and shout with laughter.

104 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

" The last memoHy is the happiest of all. Mr. Courtney
was I think quite lately married and he was to bring Mrs.
Courtney to visit us. I don't think my parents had ever
met her. Any way I know my mother was anxious that
everything should be ' very nice/ and it was not so easy
in our small and full house and with no great help in the
way of service. So I recall a good deal of preparation and
some httle anxiety. Then they arrived. On Sunday
afternoon we went a long ramble, and all the way we grew
madder and madder. I think some of our joy arose from
our usual mood when Mr. Courtney came among us, some
I think was pure pleasure in finding that we could stiU
prank though there was a Mrs. Courtney."

A third vignette is supplied by Mr. Arthur Roby.
" Down to 1875, when we left London, there are constant
entries in my father's diaries of Lord Courtney lunching
and dining with my people and of walks and drives they
took with him and of dinners he gave my father at the
Reform Club or at the Statistical Society, or to both my
parents at the Ship at Greenwich or elsewhere. Here are
some instances. April 22, 1871. — ' Dined with Courtney
at the Reform Club. Present Fawcett, Westlake, Caimes,
Rigby, Jenkins and Ebel, Berlin Correspondent of the
Times.' July 22-26, 1875. — ' Courtney took Westlake and
ourselves on the Thames.' 1876, July 21-5. — ' At Court-
ney's invitation we rowed from Oxford to Teddington ;
the Westlakes with us.' Lord Courtney's laugh, which was
always so hearty, was the passport to our affection for him
as children. We were profoundly impressed with the fact
that he had always an answer ready for all our questions,
£ind awed by the number of topics he discussed with our
parents. But, unlike many of my father's friends who were
not nearly so able, we were never the least in awe of Mr.
Courtney himself. If we were romping when he came, he
romped too. We rejoiced to go walks and drives with him
or to the Zoo, and we were allowed to and did treat him as
a young uncle, and when he came to dinner parties we
caught him on the stairs. He seemed to understand children.

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 105

^and so was never solemn to them or afraid of losing caste
by coming down to their level in fun and frolic. Times
beyond number we used to go to his rooms in Queen Anne's
Gate to get from him some tickets or other source of pleasure
he had for us ; and whenever he came to see my parents, a
visit to our nursery or schoolroom was never forgotten.
In later years it was to him I used to owe visits to the House
with introductions to great men like Lord Morley, who
might also be sitting in the Strangers' GaUery. No senior
could be so kind to a junior as he was, his great abiUty and
knowledge giving itself so lavishly and simply to the enter-
tainment of those who had nothing they could give him
in return except their gratitude and affection."

While journalism was his main occupation and the
principal source of his livelihood, Courtney found time to
continue the economic studies to which he had turned on
leaving Cambridge. In 1864 he joined the Statistical
Society, of which he was to be elected President thirty years
later, and it was before this body that he read in 1868 a
massive dissertation, " On the Finances of the United
States, 1861-67," ^ which may stiU be consulted as a record
of financial errors committed under the stress of a prolonged
conflict, Courtney's competence as an economist was
recognised by his election to the PoUtical Economy Club
in 1869, after having attended two of its meetings in 1866
as Fawcett's guest. Since its foundation in 1821 by Ricardo
the Club had steadily grown in influence, enhsting not only
every professional student of the dismal science but states-
men, pubhcists and men of letters. Among the sages who v
gathered round the dinner-table on Friday evenings Mill
was facile princeps ; but debates which were attended by
Caimes, Thornton and Newmarch, Cliffe Leslie and Thorold
Rogers, Jevons and Fawcett, Bagehot and Greg, Sidgwick
and Braniwell, Lowe, Dilke and Goschen, Lord Overstone
and Sir John Lubbock, Frederic Harrison and John Morley,
Farrer and Giffen, VilUers and Louis Mallet, naturally
reached a high level of knowledge and argument. To join

* Journal of the Statistical Society, xxxi. 164-221.

io6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

such a circle was a liberal education for a young man, and
for the half century which followed his election Courtney
was one of the most regular attendants as well as one of the
weightiest debaters. He was chosen Secretary in 1873,
Giffen being appointed Joint Secretary in 1881. " Even
then," writes Frederic Harrison of his own election in 1876,
" Leonard Courtney was recognised as the heir of Mill's
economic authority," ^ "It has been my high privilege
for a good many years to be a member of the PoUtical
Economy Club," he declared in 1888. " We meet together
once a month during the season. There are forty-five
ordinary members, and we have some honorary members,
for instance, members who become Cabinet Ministers —
almost every Chancellor of the Exchequer has been a
member of the Club — and holders of professorial chairs.
We sit down on an average perhaps a score. We do not
stand up. The man who introduces a subject explains it
for some half an hour, and then it is carried from person to
person. That is the quiet business-like way of proceeding.
I would recommend you to avoid all pubUcity if you would
pursue a serious discussion of any economic question." ^

Courtney's wide range of knowledge was recognised by
his appointment as examiner in Hterature and history for
the Indian Civil Service in 1867-68, and in constitutional
history in the University of London in 1872-75. He wrote
the important article on " Banking " for the Ninth Edition of
the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and in 1872 he obtained the
Chair of Pohtical Economy in the University of London,
The post was of less distinction than that which he had
sought at Cambridge, but its duties could be combined
with his work on the Times. He held the Chair for three
years, resigning it when he started on his voyage to India.
He was so well acquainted with the classics of his science
that the preparation of his course made no very exacting
demands on his time. The Historical School, which under
the leadership of Roscher was beginning to dominate

1 Autobiographic Memoirs, ii. 92-3.

* From an Address on the Occupation of Land to the Political Economy
Circle of the National Liberal Club.

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 107

Germany, had not yet struck root in England, and the new
Professor was content to expound the doctrines of Adam
Smith and Ricardo, Mill and Caimes. His subject for the
first year was the Principles of PoUtical Economy, for the
second. Wages, and for the third. Taxation.^

To his sister Louise

November 13, 1874. — I was very busy about my evening
lecture yesterday, so that I could not conveniently write. I
have now delivered three, or a fourth of the course. The class
is smaller than it was last year, and there are only two ladies
attending, which is a great falling off. The number altogether
is about the same as it was two years ago.

Following the example of his colleagues Croom Robertson
and Carey Foster, the Professor of Political Economy invited
women to attend his classes. " I still remember what great
gratitude we all felt to such a pioneer on women's behalf,"
writes Mrs. Hancock. " There were only a few girls among
a large class of men ; and many were the prophecies that
we should meet with rudeness and discourtesy. But I
found them very poUte, and many were the offers to sharpen
my pencil and lend me notes."

Courtney beheved not only that political economy was
a science, but that it afforded invaluable guidance in the
conduct of public affairs. He scornfully repudiated the
doctrine that the State could make men happy and prosper-
ous, preferring to emphasise the danger to personal indepen-
dence and responsibihty from its well-meant attentions.
He rebuked the facile optimism which forgot the hmits
within which men and nations are compelled by natural
laws to work out their destiny. If his poUtical teaching
was the gospel of Independence, his economic message was
the gospel of Self-Help. In both domains he raised the
standard of a lofty and almost stoical individuahsm, and
kept it proudly flying tiU the day of his death. Two lectures
deUvered to the Mechanics' Institute at Pl5anouth in the
later 'seventies reveal his economic convictions and appre-

^ Information kindly supplied by the Secretary of University College.

io8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

hensions at the time of his entry into political life. In the
first, " The Migration of Centres of Industrial Energy," ^
he discussed the perplexing problem whether the hfe of
nations is subject to the same limitations as the Ufe of men,
in other words whether the stock of national vitaUty in-
evitably becomes exhausted. The rise and fall of empires
seems to indicate some such biological law ; but we pass
beyond the region of hj^othesis in tracing the cycles of
industrial growth and decay. A rapid survey of the com-
mercial fortunes of mediaeval Italy, Flanders, Holland and
England exhibits industry passing from nation to nation,
and proves that in each case supremacy rests upon transi-
tory conditions. Within our own country the centre of
industry shifts from district to district, and the tide of
emigration prepares us for a large transfer of industrial
energy from our own to other lands. If our coal deposits
are as limited as Professor Jevons calculates, we must
prepare ourselves for a shrinkage of industry and a sterner
struggle for existence. " I trust," he concludes, " that the
spirit of wisdom may lead this nation through the trials in
store for it ; and I say this the more fervently because I
cannot disguise from myself the conviction that this century
can scarcely pass away without some of them being experi-
enced." " The facts are for the greater part well known,"
wrote Professor Marshall in 1918, " but it is a monumental
array of warnings that a nation with but narrow natural
resources must not rely in ease on the memories of the past."
The second address, entitled " A Fair Day's Wages for a
Fair Day's Work," ^ analyses the meaning of a fair-sounding
but ambiguous phrase. " A fair day's wages " means a
fair amount of what money will buy, and varies with prices
and with customary wants. Chinese and English labourers,
for instance, working in the same town and receiving
different pay, may both obtain a fair wage. " A fair day's
work " is a much simpler conception, merely involving that
the work must be useful and conscientiously performed.
Passing further afield the lecturer explodes the vulgar errors

^ Published in the Fortnightly Review, December 1878.
* Published in the Fortnightly Review, Maxch 1879.

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 109

that workmen benefit by " making " work, and suffer by
imports from abroad. The real danger to British industry
arises from much deeper causes. Resuming the thread of
his previous discourse, he warns his hearers of the possible
shrinkage of our natural resources, and bids them prepare
for recurring depressions and growing emigration. The
population that can be sustained at any given time is
limited by a variety of causes, some of which are wholly
or partially beyond our control. The address closes on a
note of rebuke to the irresponsible complacency of his
contemporaries. " Forty years ago people pursued,^ their
thought to its conclusion, however disagreeable it might
be. You might as well hope to build a house in disregard
of the law of gravitation as to secure social well-being in a
community where the principle of population is treated as
of no account. To preach personal or class responsibility
is not a passport to favours, and a democratic franchise
exposes public men to increasing temptation to suppress
unpopular truths. Much yet remains to be done to improve
the condition of the people by the reform of our laws, above
all those relating to land ; but if all that could be suggested
were accomplished, it would still remain with the people
themselves to determine their own condition." ^

Courtney's connection with the Times never debarred
him from active co-operation with men of more advanced
views than Delane. When Fawcett entered Parliament in
1865 he founded a Radical group, of which Mill was the
principal ornament.^ The group developed into a Club in
1870, with Dilke, who had entered Parliament in 1868, as
Secretary. Among the members were Mill, Hare, Fawcett^
Cairnes, John Morley, Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice, Courtney,.
Leslie Stephen, Henry Sidgwick, Torrens and Frank Hill,
the editor of the Daily News. From this platform Mill
propounded in 1870 his views on land, and at the inaugural
public meeting of the Land Tenure Association in 1870 Sir
Charles for the first time promulgated the doctrine of the

^ " Much has been learnt since he wrote," writes Professor Marshall ;
" but nearly every one may still profit by some shrewd observation."
* L. Stephen, Life of Fawcett, p. 286.

no LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

" unearned increment." Not long after its foundation, in
Dilke's words, " it dropped very much into the hands of
Fawcett, Fitzmaurice and myself." ^ In 1880 Dilke took
office and was succeeded in the Secretaryship by his brother
Ashton, with whose death in 1883 it came to an end. The
Club exerted a considerable influence in the 'seventies
owing to the conspicuous abiUties of some of its members,
and helped to prepare the transformation of a predominantly
Whig party into an army of Liberals and Radicals. " I
first met Mr. Courtney," writes Lord Fitzmaurice, " through
Mr. Fawcett and other members of the Radical Club, which
consisted of Members of ParUament and non-members in
about equal proportions. The Club as a rule dined in
London, and when we broke up I often used to walk with
Courtney to Westminster Bridge. Thence, in those early
days, he used to make his way to Blackfriars, to the Times
office. I remember that what immediately struck me most
about him was his immense strength, both mental and
physical, which nothing seemed able to tire, and his great
independence of judgment, in which he resembled Mr.
Fawcett. All his friends were naturally very anxious to
see him in Parhament, and expected great things of him."

Both in the Radical Club and the PoUtical Economy
Club Courtney was thrown into frequent contact with
Fawcett, whose career, no less than opinions, had been in
many respects similar to his own. The elder Fawcett, hke
the elder Courtney, would never have thought of sending
his son to the University ; but the boy's mathematical
abiUties were so marked that the Dean of Sahsbury solemnly
pronounced that he ought to go to Cambridge. Peterhouse
was chosen as a coUege where Fellowships were tenable by
la5nnen, and Fawcett entered in 1852, a year after Courtney,
rising, Uke him, from a " pensioner " to a " scholar." He
was seventh wrangler in 1856, and in the same year was
elected FeUow of Trinity Hall, whither he had migrated
when he found too many competitors at Peterhouse. Though
he read diligently he knew that he had no chance of being
Senior Wrangler, and therefore felt at Hberty to give free

* Gwynn ajod Tuckwell, Life oj Sir Charles Dilke, i. 160.

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS iii

rein to his passion for politics. He spoke frequently at the
Union, where he wrestled with such budding orators as
Montagu Butler, John Gorst and Gully. Having resolved
as a boy that he would one day enter Parliament he migrated
to London after taking his degree, and read for the Bar,
paying frequent visits to the House of Commons. Return-
ing to Cambridge two years later after losing his sight, his
unflagging activity soon made him a prominent figure in
the University and beyond. His election to the Chair of
PoUtical Economy in 1863 was the reward of his Manual
and of his friendship with Mill. Returned to Parliament
as Member for Brighton in 1865 he rapidly won the ear of
the House, and established his position as an Independent
Radical.

Courtney and Fawcett had never met as undergraduates,
and they were probably unknown to each other tiU they
stood as rival candidates for the Professorship. It was not
till the one was in Parliament and the other anchored in
Printing House Square that their intimacy began ; but it
quickly ripened into close and fruitful association. Both
were disciples of Mill and friends of Cairnes. Both were
ardent champions of minority representation. Both had
been uncompromising supporters of the cause of the North
in the American Civil War. Both were professional students
of political economy, finance and statistics. Both were
Philosophic Radicals, pledged to laissez-faire, free trade,
religious liberty, and women's suffrage. Finally, both were
of the Cambridge school, interpreting life in terms of prose,
not poetry, loving precise statement and clear thinking,
and caring nothing for theology and metaphysics. If
Cairnes was Courtney's first intimate friend among the
leaders of thought, Fawcett was his first ally among men of
action ; and the three men formed a working alliance which
was not without influence on EngUsh history.

Cairnes had left Galway on his appointment to the Chair
of Political Economy at University College, London ; but
an accident to his leg brought on a disease which slowly
crippled him, compelled him to withdraw from academic
work and finally killed him. He pitched his tent at Black-

112 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

heath, partly in order to be a neighbour of Mill, who would
walk beside his bath-chair so long as he was well enough to
go out. When he became a hopeless invalid, unable to
stand or even to move, Fawcett and Courtney paid frequent
visits to his house, where the triumvirate discussed not only
problems of poUtical economy, but every phase of public
affairs. His mind was unaffected, and his authority steadily
increased. After the death of Mill in 1873 few would have
challenged Fawcett 's tribute to Cairnes as " the leading
economist of the day, second only in power, originality and
clearness of expression to his friend and master." " In the
midst of aU engagements," writes LesUe Stephen, " Fawcett
was constantly running down to his friend's house, cheering
him by his conversation, doing all he could to spread his
reputation, encouraging him to collect and repubhsh his
essays, bringing down any one whom he thought likely to
be an amusing companion, and taking counsel with him on
the poUtical measures in which they were both interested.
Cairnes's vigorous intellect made the congenial alliance
profitable to both parties. During Fawcett's Parliamentary
career Cairnes, so long as he lived, was one of his most
intimate advisers, whilst Leonard Courtney made a third
in their friendly union." ^

The triple alhance co-operated most effectively in
defeating the Irish University Bill of 1873. At Galway
Cairnes had imbibed an undying hostility to the claim of
the Roman Church to control education in Ireland, and,
though in Fawcett's words " a thorough Liberal," he
believed that the defeat of Gladstone would be a lesser evil
than the surrender of higher education to an Ultramontane
priesthood. In 1S66, in an article on " The Irish University,"
he had stoutly defended mixed education, and expressed a
wish for the retention of the Queen's Colleges even if it was
determined to create a " mediaeval University." When
the attempt was renewed towards the close of Gladstone's
first Ministry he returned to the charge in an article entitled
" The Irish University Question." ^ The BiU was stoutly

1 Fawcett's Life, pp. 200-201.
• Both reprinted in his Political Essays, 1873.

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 113

contested by Fawcett in Parliament, who launched the
thunderbolts forged in the arsenal at Blackheath. The
third member of the triumvirate, entrenched in Printing
House Square, contributed his share to the defeat of the
measure, and to the subsequent passage of Fawcett's Bill
for the abolition of tests in Trinity College, Dublin.

Though they could scarcely desire his cruel sufferings to
be prolonged, Caimes's death was a blow to his friends, who
paid warm tributes to his memory. "No man was better
informed than he of the course of poUtical events," wrote
Fawcett in the Fortnightly Review} " and no one was a
safer guide as a practical politician. He possessed charm,
vivacity and humour in conjunction that made all his
friends look forward to their visits to him as one of their
greatest pleasures. When any of his friends heard a good
story probably the first thing they thought of was, ' How
Caimes wiU enjoy it ! ' It used to be proverbial among us
that, laughing with him over some joke or hearing him tell
some amusing story, we often lingered so long that we
generally had to run to the station and not unfrequently
missed the last train."

Courtney had enjoyed his visits as much as Fawcett,
and marvelled at the contrast between the cheerful serenity
and the physical sufferings of their host.

To his sister Louise

August 1872. — On Sunday I went down to see Caimes, whom
I had not seen for a fortnight. He was looking terribly ill.
His eyes were sunk and his hands thinner than ever. I shall
try to go down again next Sunday.

The fine obituary notice in the Times was from his pen.^
" He was the most powerful and exact of our recent Political
Economists. The colunms of a daily journal are lU-fitted
to receive the impressions of social intercourse ; and the
memorials of his admirable humour and of conversational
gifts, at once charming and instructive, must be preserved
for his family and friends. They will treasure the memory

* August 1875. 2 July 9_ 1875.

I

114 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

of a private life of rare elevation, and the few who have been
privileged to resort to his suburban home wUl long miss the
interchange of thought and feeling which made it so attrac-
tive." He praises his Leading Principles as good hard
reading, to be studied not skimmed, and better understood
after several readings than after one. " He was the unseen
centre of the operations that exposed the character of the
University Bill in 1873 and destroyed it, for he had seen
the success of united education at Galway. Its strongest
opponents in Parhament and the Press were inspired by his
knowledge and counsel." ^

On the eve of his entering ParUament in 1876 Courtney
set forth his views on the manufacture, expression and
authority of public opinion in an article entitled " PoUtical
Machinery and PoHtical Life," pubUshed in the July number
of the Fortnightly Review. The election of 1874, he begins,
showed the electorate to be opposed to the retention of
Gladstone, but gave httle if any indication what measures
it desired. In any case it cannot as a rule pronounce a
verdict on more than one question at a time. Moreover,
pubHc opinion, or the voice of the majority, if we closely
scrutinise the methods of its manufacture, ought to carry
but Httle weight. Most voters take their opinions ready-
made from their landlord, their church, or the leader of
their party ; and independent thinking is as rare among
candidates as among constituents. " The first condition
of success is that each candidate shall be clearly identified
with the poUcy of the party he seeks to attract. He must
support the Ministry unreservedly, or he must go with the
Opposition. But the balance of victory constantly rests
with those electors who are not enrolled under either banner.
The hovering and doubtful voters are far from always
being venal. They are cautious, lukewarm, cold-blooded
creatures, sceptical of professions, and in some instances
disdainful of political hfe. Whoever tries to win them
must strive to take the colour out of his opinions. He soon
perceives the advantages of practising an economy of revela-

^ Courtney was Cairnes's executor, and was for years the friend and
adviser of his widow.

VI TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 115

tion ; but this is extremely difficult except where there is
nothing to reveal. All the influences which prevail among
us to repress the development of opinion are brought into
strongest operation at the time of a general election. The
best candidate is the man who is not troubled with thoughts
of anything beyond the programme of his party. The
conditions thus limiting the choice of candidates necessarily
affect the character of the House of Commons, and tend to
make it a chamber of mediocrity. There are persons who
regard this result with satisfaction. They tell us that what
is wanted in the Legislature is not a multiplication of
Mr. Burke but of men who are content to say ditto to Mr.
Burke. I am, however, prepared to uphold the paradox
that the most important function of the House of Commons
is not that of legislation but of discussion." Parliament
should be the educator ; for the press tends to follow its
lead, popularising the ideas that have found a foothold
within its walls.

What is the remedy for this artificial stimulation of
mediocrity, this systematic sterilisation of originality ? In
answering the question the author reveals the purpose for
which the article was written. " I look for something like
a regeneration of pohtical hfe through the gradual trans-
formation of our electoral system according to the prin-
ciples of Mr. Hare. Instead of compelUng voters to bring
themselves down to a common level in the hope of forming
part of a majority, I would allow them to associate together
freely according to their opinions in groups, obtaining
representatives according to their numbers. The immediate
adoption of Mr. Hare's system I neither expect nor desire ;
but its introduction within the limited areas of our great
towns and more populous counties may be anticipated
without extravagance of thought in the lifetime of the
new generation. Our present system operates to Hmit the
quantity and worsen the quality of life in every division.
Why should we not adopt the "regime of liberty instead of
the regime of constriction ? If a voter is to have the power
to which he is entitled he must have freedom of choice ;
and he can only have freedom of choice when the single-

ii6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

member constituency disappears. If it is urged that the
representation of minorities may cheat the majority of its
rightful power, the answer is that with single-member con-
stituencies a majority in the Legislature may be returned
by a minority in the country. The majority may vote
down minorities if they will first hear what they have to
say. The demand for the extension of household suffrage
to the counties will not long be resisted, and its concession
must be accompanied by a redistribution of electoral power.
Any one who examines the institutions about us by the
Hght of the principles and thoughts that daily gain force
among men must find httle comfort or trust in their per-
manence. We are compassed about with so much that
must pass away, we struggle to the injury of our freedom
and health under the weight of so much that is dead and
must be shuffled off ; and yet the strain and the labour
of their removal threaten to be so great that we are often
tempted to think that without a revolution the changes
that are inevitable cannot be accomplished. The trans-
formation of our representative system appears to me to
open up a way to the accompHshment of the changes we fore-
see without resort to passion and to violence. If we make
the governing assembly a mirror of the life of the people,
the leaven of change wiU work gradually in the one as in
the other."

Courtney had often expressed these views in the Times
or in the Radical Club ; but they appeared for the first
time above his signature in this article, which drew a warm
commendation from the Editor.

From John Morley

June 22, 1876. — Your article interests me enormously —
though my mind halts this side of your conclusion. The first
dozen pages strike me as masterly. The silently directing
power of Parliament over public opinion has never been so set
forth — to the best of my knowledge. I will not trouble you
with a manuscript discussion, because I hope to examine your
position in print before many weeks are over. At this moment
I am not quite sure where the point of divergence is exactly

vx TRAVEL, STUDY AND FRIENDSHIPS 117

to be found. You make the plan more persuasive than usual,
partly because you write like a practical politician — which Mill
and Hare do not. Chamberlain has been very unwell ; he is
now refreshing his brain at Llangollen in preparation for Tuesday's
meeting. If Horsman would only be kind enough to vacate
Liskeard, then things would happen that would make me think
better of the House of Commons than I do now. However, all
in good time, I suppose, and one at once.

The two men had come to London in the later 'fifties
to seek their fortune, but it was not tiU several years later
that they formed the friendship that lasted unbroken for
nearly half a century. Their common veneration for Mill,
their common friendship for Caimes and Fawcett, LesUe
Stephen and Frederic Harrison and many another standard-
bearer in the army of progress, their individualism and their
hatred of ImperiaHsm drew them together. The younger
man declined to enlist under the banner of Proportional
Representation ; but on other issues they were agreed,
and Courtney was a welcome recruit to the band of advanced
thinkers who, under the guidance of its brilliant editor,
made the Fortnightly a cardinal factor in the poUtical and
intellectual education of the third quarter of the century.
Modem radicalism as a Parliamentary force was bom in
the 'sixties and 'seventies when Fawcett and Dilke, Chamber-
lain and Morley, Trevelyan and Wilfrid Lawson declared
war on the Whigs ; and Courtney, though temperamentally
somewhat more conservative, supported his friends in most
of their enterprises and was regarded by them as a member
of the General Staff. " At his first dinner with me in
London," writes Lord Morley in recording his early friend-
ship with Chamberlain, " I made him acquainted with three
men of note, Fawcett, Courtney and Harrison." ^ The date
is not given ; but as the historic partnership began in 1873
it can hardly have been later than 1874. Chamberlain,
however, never became an intimate friend like Fawcett and
Morley; for the founder of the caucus was separated by
a deep gulf from the sworn foe of machine politics. The
two men were destined to enter ParKament in the same

^ Recollections, i. 157.

ii8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, vi

year, to co-operate first in the triumph and then in the
defeat of Gladstonian ideas, and finally to lead the opposing
armies which wrestled for the soul of England at the close
of the nineteenth century.

By the middle of the 'seventies Courtney had become a
famihar figure not only in Liberal circles but in the poUtical
and social hfe of London ; and his experiences were duly
recorded in frequent letters to Penzance.

To his sister Margaret

July 20, 1876. — I dined yesterday at Lord Harrowby's ; the
dinner was very good, the people pleasant, and powdered foot-
men moved about the room in almost too great numbers. Old
Lord Harrowby wore his star and ribbon of the Garter, and he
reminded me after dinner that it was at a Cabinet dinner in the
same house in his father's time that the Cato Street conspiracy
proposed to blow up the Ministry ; also that the Waterloo dis-
patches were brought by Lord Percy and read from the top of
the stairs to people pouring into the hall. The Chiswick party
went off very well. We passed through the hall of the cottage
out to the garden on the other side where the Prince and Princess
stood under a shady tree and the guests bowed on being pre-
sented and passed on. Among the people I saw and had talks
with were Cardinal Manning, who introduced me to Archbishop
Howard, KnoUys, the Prince's secretary, Charley Beresford,
Russell, Oliphant, Vernon Harcourt, Salar Jung, Lord Napier
of Magdala, the Mallets, Lord Houghton and daughter, Woolner,
Sir Bartle Frere, Birdwood of the Indian Museum, etc. The
Morocco Ambassadors were there, making a very fine show.

It was generally expected that Courtney would enter
Parliament as soon as opportimity arose ; and it was
universally agreed that he possessed unusual quaUfications
for pubHc hfe. His wide knowledge and grasp of detail,
his travels and his academic studies, his long apprenticeship
under Delane, above all his powerful mind and independent
character marked him out for a leading part on the stage
which he had so often surveyed from the gallery with
critical eye and tinghng pulse.

CHAPTER VII

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

" When in 1874 Leonard first contested Liskeard," writes
his sister Mrs, Oliver, " his effort to enter Parliament
seemed a matter of course. It was not that I can recollect
ever hearing him talk of his intention to become a member
of the House of Commons ; but one knew that his work,
his study of political questions and institutions, his travels,
his incHnations all tended in that direction. Devoted to
his native county it was natural that he should desire to
be one of its members."

The Gladstone Government had been tripped up in 1873
on its Irish University scheme, but had recovered its breath
and still possessed a working majority. Though its energies
were exhausted, and DisraeU was not without justification
in describing the occupants of the Treasury Bench as a row
of extinct volcanoes, the country was startled in the follow-
ing year by the news that the Prime Minister had dissolved
Parliament. The Cornish seats were already provided with
Liberal champions ; but at the last moment the candidate
for Liskeard accepted an offer to contest Leicester, and left
a vacancy that required to be promptly filled. How
Courtney flung himself into the breach was related by him
to his constituents several years later. " Though I was
practically unknown in Liskeard, Liskeard was not unknown
to me. From boyhood it had been to me full of interest.
I could remember several of the contests in which Charles
BuUer was a candidate. Later on I heard of all that he
had done in London and what hopes were buried with him

119

120 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

in his premature tomb. It was therefore with no ordinary
feeling of emotion that the possibility of coming to Lis-
keard seemed to open up. It was in a small room in the
office of the Times, about half-past one in the morning,
when I was engaged in writing a leading article, that one
of the boys who would come in from time to time bringing
' flimsy ' containing new inteUigence, brought in a message
stating that Mr. McArthur had retired from Liskeard. I
went on writing, and put the information aside till I had
finished. Then I began to think. Shall I go down there ?
I left the office about 2.30 and walked along the Embank-
ment to the Temple, and then I determined I would come
down. I went back to my esteemed friend Mr. Delane and
told him my decision. The following day, having opened
up communication with Liskeard, I telegraphed, ' I will come
down by mail train to-night,' "

In the rush of an unexpected General Election indivi-
duals are lost in the crowd ; but the Spectator, in deploring
the absence of able candidates, directed the attention of its
readers to one marked exception. " Mr. Leonard Courtney
has had the courage to beard Mr. Horsman in Liskeard.
Though Uttle known out of London he is known in it as a
man who, if he can hit the temper of the House of Commons,
will rise fast and far." There seemed, however, to be
httle more than a sporting chance, for he was unknown in
the constituency, and he had only ten days allowed him to
woo the electors. The sitting member elegantly described
his antagonist as " the Times reporter," and complained
that he had arrived in the borough hke a thief in the night ;
but he was glad to be opposed by a new-comer, and the
veteran campaigner looked forward to an easy victory.

Edward Horsman, a miniature Roebuck, was a prominent
if eccentric ParUamentary figure for forty years. ^ He had
held office as Chief Secretary for Ireland under Palmerston
from 1855 to 1857, resigning it on the ground that there
was " not enough work to be done," and preferring in
future the career of a free lance. He joined Lowe in opposi-
tion to the Reform Bill of 1866, and indeed Bright ascribed

^ See Sir Henry Lucy, Men and Manner in Parliament, pp. 123-7.

vn THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 121

Lowe's hostility to his influence. He was depicted retiring
" into what may be called his poHtical Cave of Adullam, to
which he invited every one who was in distress and every
one who was discontented." Bright's phrase made its
fortune, though nobody now remembers the name of the
first Adullamite. He declared himself to be "in favour
of steady but not precipitate progress " ; but his notion
of precipitancy may be judged by the fact that he opposed
every extension of the franchise during his long member-
ship of the House. He drifted ever further away from his
party, and in 1869, when he stood for Liskeard, he was
unsuccessfully opposed by an orthodox follower of Glad-
stone, to whom he was a thorn in the flesh throughout the
ParHament of 1868. At the next election he was opposed
by Courtney, but held the seat by 334 votes to 329. The
disappointment was not very severe, as the pendulum
swung to the Conservative side throughout the country;
and the Liberal candidate was, in his own words, " im-
known, unexpected, uninvited,"

Courtney expected victory neither for himself nor for
his party. Its leader had gone to the country without a
programme, and offered no particular inducement to re-
formers to rally to his support. Under the circumstances the
Liskeard figures were a moral triumph, and his friends shared
his conviction that the next appeal would not be in vain.

From John Scott

Alexandria, March 4. — Need I say I was very sorry the
Liskeard people just failed to do the country good service ?
It is sad to think that the addition of three men of sense would
have made the difference. However your turn will come, and
I shall still be able to drink to the health of my friend the member
as I had intended to do a fortnight ago. I looked in vain for a
report of the statesmanlike speeches. But- 1 have a high opinion
of the spectator's insight since it put you forward as one of the
men of intellect whom the country should delight to honour,

Horsman had a genius for quarrelling, and it was only
natural that the irascible Scotsman should fall foul of his
antagonist. Speaking in Liskeard soon after the election

122 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

he denounced him in unmeasured terms, concluding with
the terrible indictment, " the truth is not in him." He
was at once challenged to substantiate the charge. Mr.
Courtney, he rejoined, had declared that he had come to
Liskeard without invitation or communication ; but he,
the speaker, had seen a telegram in which he had announced
himself. The reply was a mere quibble, for the telegram
merely stated that he was about to present himself to the
electors. The controversy was fought out in the Times,
and for nearly a fortnight the Member for Liskeard gave
demonstrations in the art of invective. " A collection of
the phrases and epithets he has applied to me," wrote the
defeated candidate, " from the first moment I ventured to
appear as his opponent, would be a curiosity in the Utera-
ture of vituperation." But Horsman's ways were well
known, and it was no discredit to any man to be the object
of his strident rebukes. Courtney found no lack of sym-
pathy within the precincts of Printing House Square ; for
Delane himself had been truculently attacked in past years
for his supposed servihty to Palmerston. Even Lowe, his
old bed-fellow in the Cave of Adullam, roundly condemned
Horsman's conduct as " quite inexcusable."

The Liberal citizens of Liskeard shared Lowe's view of
the controversy, and a week or two later Courtney received
a requisition signed by a majority of the registered electors
to visit the borough. Accordingly on March 31 he deHvered
an address. After the defeat of the previous year, he began,
he believed that a few years in Opposition would be useful
for the Liberal Party as a time of education, and that the
Tories might perform some useful work ; but he had been
sadly disappointed. Gladstone had earned his repose, but
he hoped and beheved that he would resume the leadership.
A reform of county government was urgently required, and
Gladstone alone could grapple with it. Another important
question which ought not to be shirked on account of its
immense difficulties was the disestablishment and disendow-
ment of the EngHsh Church. The franchise must be extended,
and, what was of still greater importance, the single-member
constituency must yield to a larger unit in the interests of

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 123

fair representation. These and other reforms should be
adopted by the party ; and he had no desire to see the
Liberals back in office till they were prepared with a con-
structive programme. The speaker was forthwith adopted
as prospective Liberal candidate at the next General
Election ; but the period of waiting was to be shorter than
he had any right to expect. At the end of 1876 Horsman's
stormy career came to an end, and Courtney offered himself
for a second time to the electors of Liskeard, not unreason-
ably confident of success.

To his sister Margaret

Liskeard, December 3. — I telegraphed to Will yesterday a
message which you possibly received at dinner. This opponent
is Lieut. -Colonel John Sterling, second or younger son of John^
Sterling and son-in-law of Sir John Trelawny, a fact he states
in a little circular he has issued. Sir John has no influence
here ; he once stood for the place and was beaten, and so far
this opposition does not seem dangerous, though it would be
pleasanter to have a walk over. All my friends appear to be
very staunch ; at all events the leaders are, and I suppose when
they are the rest will be.

On December 22 the Liberal candidate was elected by
388 to 281 — the largest number of votes ever cast in Lis-
keard— and took his seat at the opening of the session of
1877.

To his sister Margaret

February 9, 1877. — You will have seen I took my seat yester-
day— my introducers being Edmund Fitzmaurice and Mundella.
There was a great crowd in the House of Lords to see Lord
Beaconsfield ; the ladies in the galleries laughed when he and
his introducers sat down on the Earls' bench and put on their
cocked hats and took them off again. I expect we shall be
ha\dng a great debate in the House of Commons on the Eastern
question in about a fortnight. There was a meeting of the
Liberal chiefs on Wednesday and they resolved to show fight,
the Duke of Argyll insisting upon it.

" When Courtney was elected," wrote Justin M'Carthy,
" I remember having a talk with an experienced Member of

124 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

the House who set himself up as an authority on all poUtical
questions, ' Mark my words,' he said to me with an air of
portentous wisdom, ' he will be a dead failure in the House
of Commons.' I did mark his words, and Courtney was not
a dead failure, but a very Uve success." ^ When the new
member for Liskeard entered the House of Commons it had
lost its leader ; for DisraeH had crossed the lobby at the
close of the previous session. The new leader of the House,
Stafford Northcote, was notable for character rather than
abihty, and his lieutenants were capable but not briUiant.
The Liberal AchiUes had retired to his tent, whence he
emerged at intervals ; and the Opposition followed the un-
selfish but rather drowsy leadership of Lord Hartington.
The most active section of the Liberal party was Radical,
not Whig, and it was from such men as Fawcett and Dilke,
Trevelyan and Wilfrid Lawson that the most effective
criticism of the Government was heard. To this group,
reinforced as it was by the recent arrival of Joseph Chamber-
lain, Courtney attached himself. His frequent attendance
at debates had made him familiar with Parliamentary forms,
and the stage fright which daunts the new member was
entirely lacking. He was, moreover, trained by long years
of joumaUsm to clear statement and to all the arts of
argument and analysis ; and within a week of taking his
seat he had deUvered his maiden speech.

Courtney chose for his plunge the main political topic of
the session, the Eastern Question, on which the Li'^eral
party was not unanimous. While Hartington and Forster
shared to some extent the Russophobia of the Government,
Gladstone, deeply stirred by the Bulgarian atrocities,
emerged from his retirement and proclaimed in ringing
tones the poUcy of " bag and baggage." His pamphlet on
Bulgarian Horrors, published in the autumn of 1876, sold
by tens of thousands, and his oratorical campaign aroused
extraordinary enthusiasm. The Prime Minister, on the
other hand, dismissed the tales of Turkish devilry as coffee-

^ Reminiscences, ii. p. 369. In his History of Our Own Times, i88o-i8gy,
p. 154. the forecast is ascribed to a " writer in a very influential London
Weekly."

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 125

house babble, and was far more interested in checkmating
Russia than in emancipating the Balkan Christians. Lord
Salisbury had been sent to take part in a Conference at
Constantinople ; but his mission was doomed to failure,
since the Porte knew that his recommendations would never
be enforced so long as Beaconsfield was at the helm. In
the debate on the Address Gladstone raised the Turkish
policy of the Government, taking as his text the reference
in a recent despatch to " our treaty engagements with
Turkey." His denial of the existence of such engagements
to assist Turkey against Russia was emphatically reiterated
by the member for Liskeard. We were under obligations
to the Guaranteeing Powers, he maintained, but not to
Turkey ; nor did the Treaty of 1856 place Turkey under
obligations to us. We agreed to respect her integrity and
independence in order to ensure the peace of Europe, not to
defend her against the consequences of her own misrule.
The power of counsel and warning employed at the recent
Conference of Constantinople was derived not from treaty
but from the public law of Europe ; for the community of
States possessed an inherent right to prevent any of their
number from becoming a danger to the peace of the world.
We must have freedom to deal with the problems of the
Near East as they arose, and neither friendship with Turkey
nor fear of Russia ought to prevent us from alleviating the
cruel lot of the Christian subjects of the Sultan.

It was a strong Gladstonian utterance, carefuUy pre-
pared and delivered with obvious conviction, " I well
remember Mr. Courtney's advent in the House of Commons,"
writes Mr. Burt, " two years after I had become a member.
He was already weU known to many members. To have
won a great outside reputation does not always help a
member to the esteem of the House. Indeed he is listened
to more critically than would be an ordinary debutant.
Moreover, the House has its own standard of measurement
and makes its own estimates without regard to the ante-
cedents of the new-comer. Of his maiden speech I have a
clear recollection. I was sitting near to him at the time
of its delivery. On such an occasion the House is always

126 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

indulgent to a new member. Even to a practised speaker
his maiden speech is something of an ordeal. Mr. Courtney
in truth needed no special indulgence. He was never, I
should think, a timid man, never lacked self-confidence,
and I distinctly remember that the speech was dehvered
with complete self-possession and with great effect. In
substance, in arrangement, in phrasing and in deUvery it
could not have been bettered. A few months earlier I had
been privileged to hear Mr. Chamberlain's maiden speech,
which, needless to say, was a complete success. When he
concluded, a member sitting beside me said, ' That speech
is Uke a good leading article.' That remark was meant to
be, and was really, a compUment, impl5dng that it was
more perfect in form and in phrasing than impromptu
utterances are wont to be. On Mr, Courtney's maiden
speech the same verdict might have been given."

Mr. Burt's description is confirmed by a report from the
Press Gallery. 1 " The speech was made at an hour when
the House was very thin, and it was therefore in a manner
thrown away. Many members would have come eagerly
in if they had known it was coming off just then. Is it a
good or a bad omen for the futiu^e of a political debater
when his first speech is made with perfect ease and self-
possession ? Mr. Courtney was as easy and self-possessed
as if he had been addressing the House once or twice a night
for the last twenty sessions. It was an excellent piece of
argument, somewhat fine-drawn, delivered in a clear, strong
voice, and was not without a certain dignity of effect. But
it was a little too professorial for the general style of the
House of Commons."

The speaker himself was fairly satisfied with his own
performance.

To his sister Margaret

February 17. — You at home will like to hear something of
my maiden speech last night. It was begun in a very thin
House as Bob Montagu had sent everybody away, but a fair
number came in from the Lobbies and some very good men
were there. Northcote and Bourke on the Treasury Bench,
* The Examiner, February 24, 1878.

vn THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 127

and on our side Gladstone, Hartington, Lowe, Forster, Goschen,
Childers, Harcourt, besides the stragglers below the gangway.
I spoke rather too quickly and with too much condensation,
but I believe I made my meaning clear and commanded atten-
tion. The matter was substantial, though the art might have
been better. I was a good deal congratulated at the close with
a warmth of approval that showed I had accomplished some-
thing more than a succes d'estime. On the whole I am not
dissatisfied with the beginning ; the performance will give me
some reputation as tolerably long-headed, and enthusiasm will
come later on. The Daily News refers to the speech in its leader.

A few days later he met the real, if not the titular, leader
of his party.

To his sister Margaret

March i. — I dined last Friday in a very small, quiet, family
sort of gathering at Sir Walter James's in Whitehall Gardens.
His son, who is in the House (member for Gateshead), asked me
in the afternoon to come if I was not engaged, sa3dng that Glad-
stone was coming. It appears that Gladstone is accustomed to
drop in there in a quiet way. We were in *all ten or twelve ;
Sir Walter and Lady James, Walter James and his wife, Glad-
stone and Mrs. Gladstone and niece and two or three others ;
an oval table and conversation general and agreeable.

His opinions on the Eastern Question were expounded
in greater detail in a long article which occupied the place
of honour in the May number of the Fortnightly Review.
The policy which has for its object the conservation of the
Ottoman Empire, he begins, and discourages with the whole
influence of England every suggestion tending towards its
dissolution, is erroneous in its conception and mischievous
in its consequences ; and the policy which favours its
gradual dismemberment and disintegration, and would
approve and support the employment of the allied force of
Europe in setting this process in motion, is wise and bene-
ficial. In a word generosity and statesmanship concur in
recommending the piecemeal dissolution of the Ottoman
rule. A brief glance at the history of the Near East reveals
the ebbing of the Turkish tide, and the further contraction
of the Empire is inevitable. The Turks remain a conquering

128 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

tribe, lacking the faculty of incorporating the races it holds
in subjection, and their numbers have thus diminished
under the strain of war. If their dominion is thus destined
to further disintegration, the only question is whether the
next step should be taken at the present moment or deferred.
To answer this question we must glance at the States which
have been liberated from the yoke — Hungary, Greece,
Roumania, Serbia. Though Greece has disappointed certain
expectations, no one can travel from Constantinople to
Athens without feeling that he has exchanged a decaying
for a growing world. Compare again the condition of the
peasantry on the Roumanian and the Bulgarian side of the
Danube. Remember the continual revolts in Bosnia and
Crete against intolerable conditions. Every step in the
progress of dismemberment has been a step forward, and
the Crimean War was a crazy attempt to arrest what ought
to have been faciUtated. At that time England was not
alone in her mistaken poHcy ; but, while other States have
come to recognise the necessity of a further contraction,
the British Government has stood alone in its dogged resolve
to resist every Mmitation of independence and every in-
vasion of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Our
resistance has prevented the changes that are so urgently
needed and that might have been peacefully secured by a
united Europe. It is pitiable to read the Crimean prophecies
of the approaching regeneration of Turkey, for her dissolu-
tion is a fore-ordained result of unalterable causes.

The real ground for the action of the British Government
is not love of Turkey, but fear of Russia. The Government
of Russia is corrupt, despotic and aggressive ; but her record
as an emancipator of the Christian subjects of the Turk is
not without honour, and travellers report an outburst of
S5anpathy among the masses unstained by territorial greed.
Such a mood provides a precious lever for international co-
operation in the task of humanity. Austria has neither
a desire for change nor a desire to prevent it, and a bold
appeal to Bismarck might have avoided the danger of iso-
lated action by Russia, left Turkey without a friend in
Europe, and compelled her to surrender at discretion. The

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 129

British Government, however, has committed every possible
mistake. It has indirectly encouraged Turkey to refuse
reform, rejected every proposal from Russia for inter-
national pressure, failed to keep the peace, and even rendered
possible a European conflagration. Yet even now it is not
too late to mend. If we proclaimed that we had abandoned
the vain policy of maintaining the independence and in-
tegrity of the Ottoman Empire, and were bent on co-operat-
ing with the other Powers in raising under European tutelage
a confederation of free States out of its ruins, we should at
last be doing something to redeem the past.

It was a ringing challenge to Disraeli's Russophobe and
Turcophil policy. Its wisdom was to be shown by Lord
Sahsbury's tragic admission twenty years later that we had
put our money on the wrong horse, and forty years later
by our union with Russia against the corrupt and effete
Power that had been kept on its legs by the blunders of
British statesmen. The Opposition, however, was too
divided to take vigorous action against the Government,
and shirked a debate which would reveal their weakness.
After the Easter recess, however, Gladstone determined to
intervene, and gave notice of four Resolutions, censuring
the Bulgarian massacres ; declaring Turkey to have lost the
right to British assistance, moral or material ; demanding
local self-government in the disturbed territories ; and
urging Great Britain to join the Powers in extorting guaran-
tees for humanity and justice. These Resolutions, mild as
they were, proved too strong meat for the digestion of
Hartington and Forster, and the third and fourth were
reluctantly sacrificed to secure united Liberal support.
The attack was launched on May 7 in a speech of lofty
eloquence and appeal ; but the avowed differences of the
Opposition leaders took the heart out of the debate, and
gave the Government an easy victory.

This exhibition of organised impotence was warmly
resented by the Radical wing, led by Fawcett, Chamberlain
and Courtney. Resuming the debate on the third day the
member for Liskeard sharply denounced the action of the
Government and the inaction of the Opposition. He had

130 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

heard " with consternation and bewilderment " that the
third and fourth Resolutions had been dropped ; for the
first and second were so generally accepted that they were
hardly worth a discussion. Who would deny that the
House disapproved the Bulgarian massacres or that Turkey
had thereby lost all claim to our material or moral support ?
It was said that the unanimity of the Liberal party has been
secured by it. No one could be more deeply desirous for
such unanimity ; but though it might have a single voice,
it was not a voice that expressed a mind or a will. " The
present position of the party, resembling too faithfully the
European Concert, is that of a Greek chorus which utters
moral sentiments at intervals without affecting in any way
the action of the play." The Home Secretary observed that
no member had ventured to recommend coercion. " In
the most unequivocal manner I am prepared to recommend
the employment of force." One poUcy was that of main-
taining the status quo of the Ottoman Empire. A wiser
course was to assist in its gradual dismemberment. Such
a course involved the possibility of war. But, as the
Powers would act together, it would only be a nominal
coercion, as when half a dozen pohcemen teU a rough that
if he resists they will have to use their truncheons on him.
Our true model was Canning. His convictions dated not
from the Bulgarian atrocities, but from the Crimean War,
and the experience of every subsequent year had only
served to confirm them.

The speech was praised by Mr. ChapUn, an opponent,
as a manly and straightforward avowal of poUcy, and was
repeatedly mentioned during the remainder of the long
debate. " Mr. Courtney's speech," wrote the London
Correspondent of the Western Morning News, " wiU secure
for him in the opinion of the House of Commons that high
position as a speaker which those who knew him personally
were persuaded he ought to occupy. Until this week
circumstances have been rather against him, and he has
scarcely had an opportunity to do himself justice ; but
yesterday's speech was worthy of his article in the Fort-
nightly, which was the best written contribution to the

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 131

literature of the Eastern Question since Mr. Gladstone's
pamphlet. It was indeed almost the best that has been
dehvered on the Resolutions. There was no finer passage
in all the present debate than the vindication of Russia to
which the interruptions of his opponents spurred him."

In denouncing the Turkophil tendencies of the Prime
Minister the member for Liskeard was following the lead
of Gladstone, and was supported by influential members
of his party ; but in opposing the South African policy of
the Government he stood almost alone. The annexation
of the Transvaal in the spring of 1877 was regarded in most
Liberal circles with dislike as a new illustration of Disraehan
Imperialism ; but its causes and probable consequences
were studied by few. From the first Courtney raised his
voice against an act which appeared to him unjustifiable in
itself and fraught with menace to British interests. In
speaking on Gladstone's Resolutions, he expressed his
astonishment at the strange contrast between the timidity
of Ministers in Turkey and their rashness in another quarter
of the globe. " The Government has just annexed an
independent Republic in South Africa. It may be said that
it wiU involve no risk ; but to that I reply. Wait tiU the end.
That act, without any justification of policy or principle,
exposes the country to greater peril of war than my sugges-
tions for the coercion of Turkey."

The annexation of the Transvaal was only part of the
poKcy of Lord Carnarvon, the Colonial Secretary, who was
anxious to see South Africa follow the Canadian model.
On the second reading of the South African Federation Bill
on July 9 the Under Secretary for the Colonies, Mr. Lowther,
defended the annexation. The white population, he
declared, was 40,000, who were confronted by a million
blacks. When war broke out with the natives the Transvaal
had been repeatedly warned by the British Government,
The defeat of the Boer forces opened up the prospect of a
general native revolt. Sir Theophilus Shepstone had been
sent to Pretoria to explain the danger to the British colonists
and to take measures for their security. Though the
President and other members of the Government had pro-

132 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

tested against the proposed change, the Republic had been
annexed, and the British Cabinet had approved the step.
The country was healthy and rich in minerals, and once
delivered from native dangers and financial difficulties he
anticipated for it a happy future.

The rejection of the Bill was moved by Courtney in a
speech of earnest warning. He pointed out that the Cana-
dian Bill of 1867 was the work of the Canadians themselves,
whereas the present plan of federation was the child of
Downing Street. Its main object was to recover territories
which we had deUberately resigned. The annexation of the
Transvaal was defended on the plea of danger from the
natives. But we had refrained from annexing the Orange
Free State, which was conterminous with Natal and Cape
Colony, despite its four years' war with the Basutos ; and
it was now peaceful and prosperous. If the Transvaal had
been left in peace it too would have developed its resources,
and in time would probably have entered into free union
with the British Colonies. This happy prospect had been
frustrated by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, " dressed in a Uttle
brief authority," and by Lord Carnarvon's envoy, Mr.
Froude. The Colonial Secretary had urged confederation
before informing himself whether it would be acceptable ;
and his precipitancy was resented in both the Dutch and
British colonies. The fear of war spreading in South Africa
was advanced as a reason for the Bill ; but the danger was
over before Shepstone arrived. He had been instructed to
obtain the consent of the people and the concmrence of the
Governors of the colonies before taking action ; but he
had done neither. " With or without support I shall fight
the Bill ; for I beUeve Confederation to be inapplicable to
South Africa, and the Bill involves us in a deed which, if
ratified, wiU bring disgrace and dishonour on the EngUsh
people." The rejection was seconded by Sir Charles Dilke ;
but the second reading was carried by 81 to 19.

Courtney renewed his opposition when the House went
into Committee on the Bill, and returned to the charge in
the last week of the session, when he moved that " the
annexation of the South African Republic is unjustifiable.

vn THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 133

and calculated to be injurious to the interests of the United
Kingdom and of its Colonies." The frequent suggestion
that the natives might prove dangerous not only to the
inhabitants of the Transvaal but to ourselves was not
supported by Shepstone ; and indeed the natives under
Secocoeni had been worsted by the small Transvaal force
before we annexed the country. It had been falsely denied
that the annexation had been secured by force, and much
had been made of the alleged consent of the Transvaal
Repubhc. Shepstone had been welcomed with cordiality
because the people beUeved he had come to negotiate an
offensive and defensive alliance, and annexation was a
complete surprise. He had been told to obtain the consent
of the Governors-General before acting, but had disobeyed
the order. Though we had in past^time agreed to allow
the Boers to trek into the interior, we had now undertaken
the immense burden of administering the Transvaal. We
should be compelled to take over its existing and prospective
quarrels with the native chiefs, and it could be governed
by despotic methods alone. To these familiar arguments
Lowther returned the equally famiHar rejoinder that Shep-
stone was a first-rate pubhc servant, and that the policy
of the Transvaal would inevitably have led to a native war
endangering the security of its neighbours. The dispute
was incapable of settlement, for nobody could know how
the situation would have developed if the country had not
been annexed. But when the Zulu War broke out two
years later Courtney pointed to his prophecy that annexa-
tion would increase the danger to the British colonies.

Courtney had quickly foimd his feet in the House of
Commons, and he lost no opportunity of championing the
causes to which he was pledged. If afforded the disciple
of Mill peculiar satisfaction to support a Woman's Suffrage
Bill, a hardy annual sponsored by Jacob Bright. In reply
to Mr. Arthur Balfour and Isaac Butt, the latter of whom
argued that " by the ordinance of Providence woman was
never intended for these things," he pointed out that the
considerations now employed against the vote were formerly
urged against her education. " Even if her emancipation

134 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

were accompanied by the risk of degradation which had
been anticipated, I would face it in consideration of the
advantages to be gained. There is no fear that courtesy
from strong men to weak women will diminish."

The report in Hansard gravely records that the member
for Liskeard " spoke amid continued interruption " ; but
we owe a less prosaic account of the incident to the lively
pen of Sir Henry Lucy.^ " Mr. Courtney was too good a
citizen to leave the House of Commons long lacking the
benefit of his counsel. I have no recollection of his maiden
speech ; but as early as the first week in June he suddenly
achieved fame. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and the
House was engaged on the second reading of the Woman's
Suffrage Bill. That is one of several subjects on the flank
of Imperial politics Mr. Courtney has made especially his
own. He was anxious above all things that a division
should be taken on the second reading. He succeeded in
talking out the BiU. It was a quarter past five when he
rose with a portentous sheaf of notes in his hand. At that
time debate on Wednesdays might be continued till a
quarter to six, when, if not otherwise concluded, it would
automatically close. Mr. Courtney had something under
half an hour at his disposal, and, had he been left un-
disturbed, might have used the opportunity to advantage.
It happens that thus early in his career he had succeeded
in alienating the House, a position long ago retrieved by
fuller acquaintance with his sterling quahties and his high
capacity. There are few things the House of Commons
resents more hotly than haste on the part of a new member
to assist it with his counsel. At this epoch Mr. Courtney
had strong views on the Eastern question and was not
diffident in setting them forth. When he now appeared on
an off - day, plainly predisposed to deliver a lecture on
women's rights, members, in any circumstances shamelessly
predisposed to make fun of the topic, resolved to ' have a
lark.' He had not proceeded far when there were cries
for the division. This interruption he met with angry
rebuke that fanned the flame. For twenty minutes he

^ Cornish Magazine, i888, pp. 162-3.

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 135

stood and faced the storm. Opposite and around him was
a crowd of hilarious gentlemen shouting ' 'Vide ! 'vide !
'vide ! ' When the roar of sound momentarily fell Mr.
Courtney, raising his stentorian voice to thunderous heights,
attempted to get in the fragment of a sentence. Then, as
the winter storm surging through the forlorn trees, having
apparently blown itself out, suddenly rises with angrier
roar, so Mr. Courtney's voice was drowned in a fresh shout
of ' 'Vide ! 'vide ! 'vide ! ' It was characteristic of his
courage that, though still a new member, presumably in
awe of the House, he for twenty minutes faced the music,
the roar rising to a final yell of exultation when, as the
hand of the clock pointed to a quarter to six, the Speaker
rose with calls of ' Order ! order ! ' and Mr. Courtney sat
down, having talked out the Bill he had risen to advocate."

By the end of his first session the House was aware
that the member for Liskeard was an able and well-informed
man with a mind of his own. He had taken his stand
beside Fawcett and the other Radical leaders, and in the
dominant issue of the day he had supported Gladstone
against the titular leaders of the party. His speeches had
justified and increased the reputation with which he had
entered the House, and his fearless independence won him
respect in all camps. At a dinner-party given by Sir
Charles Dilke the guests discussed the nature of " moral
force " ; and the host, after reviewing various distinguished
names, decided that " Courtney and Fawcett both have
moral force." ^ " The House soon became aware of the
ability of its new recruit," writes Lord Northbourne, who
entered the House in 1874. " His personality left a mark
on a crowd of very commonplace and ordinary M.P.'s, of
the rank and file of whom I was one. He had a splendid
intellect. He seemed always ready to Hsten to his intel-
lectual inferiors, though I should imagine their society and
conversation must have bored him. Combined with his
massive brain power he had an abrupt and distant manner,
and probably acquired the reputation of the same kind as

^ Dilke' s Life, i. 219.

136 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

another member whose name need not be repeated. Talk

five minutes to Mr. , and you will find he is a clever

fellow. Continue the conversation for another five minutes
and you will discover he is very clever. Pursue it for
fifteen minutes, and you will conclude he thinks you a fool.
This was not intentional, I am sure, on Courtney's part ;
but it is not surprising that a mind of this stamp was not
very popular. He was rough but very human. The best
comphment I could pay him was to say he resembled Dr.
Johnson, of whom some one remarked that there was
nothing of the bear about him except his skin."

The Russo-Turkish conflict which Lord Beaconsfield had
failed to prevent ran its course during 1877 and was finally
settled in favour of Russia, largely by the aid of Roumanian
arms. The Prime Minister made no secret of his sympathies,
and at the Guildhall Banquet on November 9 he extolled
the valour and patriotism of the Turkish troops. When the
fall of Plevna and the capture of the Shipka Pass opened
the way to Constantinople, a British Fleet was ordered to
the Dardanelles. Lord Carnarvon and Lord Derby, who
were opposed to a second Crimean War, resigned ; but the
Foreign Secretary withdrew his resignation. ParHament
had been smnmoned to meet before the appointed time,
and was promptly invited to pass a Vote of Credit. On
behalf of the Opposition a hostile amendment was moved
by Forster ; but on the receipt of a false report that the
Russians were advancing on Constantinople it was with-
drawn. While the party leaders were vacillating Courtney,
as usual, had a clear idea of what ought to be done, and
explained his poHcy to the House. The Government,
rel5dng on the outburst of popular passion against Russia,
maintained that the nation was imanimous ; but this
" unanimity," he declared, was imaginary. We must choose
between Russia and Turkey. The Ministers said they were
going to the Conference to act with Austria, to take their
stand on the treaty of 1856, and to compel Russia to accept
its conditions. These, he felt sure, were aims of which the
people of England would not approve. It was quite
impossible to doubt that the great majority looked back

vii THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 137

to the Crimean War with abhorrence and had no wish to
abide by its results ; while many others would, if they
could, reproduce that war. The coming Conference was
fuU of the peril of war. Point after point might arise of a
natiure to incite the Government and the people of England.
He hoped we should shake ourselves free from Turkish
and Austrian influences and assist in obtaining the freedom
of Bulgaria and the Greeks. There was only one interest we
had to guard, and that was the keeping open or keeping shut
of the Dardanelles. If we aimed at anything else, let it be
to neutrahse Austria and to uphold the settlement proposed
by Russia of the question of the subject races of the Sultan.
" There was only one really eloquent speech," wrote
the London correspondent of the Western Morning News,
" and that was Mr. Courtney's. He was continually inter-
rupted by the members who sat opposite. The outcries
seemed to make him very nervous, but the nervousness gave
a noteworthy touch to the eloquence, making him more
animated and more picturesque. He needs only one
quahty to make him a favourite. He cannot joke. Last
night he argued when he was howled at. He should sit
for a while at the feet of his friend Sir Wilfrid Lawson, and
then see what the House wiU think of him."

To his sister Margaret

February 9, 1878. — You wUl of course have seen that we
have had very exciting times. The report in the Times was
absurdly bad, being in fact in many parts unintelligible. For
some reasons I was very well pleased with my performance.
In the first place the House was in the most languid condition
after the excitement before dinner, and speaker after speaker
addressed most listless audiences. WeU, I certainly gave the
discussion a new start, and puUed the men together. Next,
although I had notes lying on the bench I never took them
up or referred to them from beginning to end, which was a useful
experience. The " excited gesticulation " of the Times was no
loss of temper or self-command as suggested : I had foreseen
what would happen at that part of my argument, and was
simply pursuing the course I had arranged in my own mind.
The Speaker pulled me up for doing what Bright and some others

138 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

do in every considerable speech — but I cannot complain, as he was
only recaUing the rule which is so often broken. Altogether I
was well satisfied. Our leaders (Hartington, Forster, etc.) put
themselves in a very ridiculous position yesterday, and they
were so attacked right and left and so ironically cheered in the
end that I should not have been surprised to-day to hear that
Hartington had resigned.

Throughout the spring England and Russia eyed each
other like duellists waiting for the signal. When the
Treaty of San Stefano, signed on March 3, terminated the
war between Russia and Turkey, Lord Derby informed
Gortschakoff that its terms must be laid before a European
Congress. On the Chancellor's rejoinder that he could only
accept a discussion of the clauses which affected European
interests, the Cabinet decided to call out the reserves.
Lord Derby promptly resigned, and war appeared immi-
nent. The Opposition being stricken with paralysis, it was
left to Sir Wilfrid Lawson to protest. He was strongly
supported by Courtney, who denied the existence of an
emergency. He was no more enamoured of the Treaty of
San Stefano than was the Ministry, and it was a great blot
that the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who had
started the war of emancipation, were left uncared for.
Much, however, might be achieved if the Treaty were
considered in a Congress into which the Government would
consent to enter in a fair and reasonable spirit. The real
question was whether the Government intended to fight
or whether its bellicose gestures were only swagger. In
spite of Hartington's advice to withdraw the amendment.
Sir Wilfrid, with Courtney's approval, insisted on a division
and was beaten by 319 to 64.

To his sister Margaret

April 10, 1878. — You will have seen I spoke last night. The
speech was not so well received as late speeches of mine have
been, but I do not think the fault was mine. The hour was
late and I represented a small minority, and the younger fellows
on the other side were noisy. I was not dissatisfied with myself.
Hartington who followed spoke very lamely, and was received

vn THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 139

with dead silence below the gangway, and with very little
cheering above the gangway. Every now and then Forster's
voice was heard saying " Hear, hear," all by himself. The
World of this week contains an article called " Mr. Courtney's
last," throwing upon my obstinacy and wrongheadedness all the
blame of the division. I had a good deal to do with it, but
Lawson required no prompting or support from me. He was
quite staunch, and had made up his mind to move an amendment
without any consultation with me, although it is true that the
amendment he proposed was drawn by me. Some thirty of us
had formed ourselves into a Committee, and had met from time
to time under Dillwyn's chairmanship, and there were great
divisions among us ; and last Friday we received a communica-
tion from Lord Hartington explaining his own position, and
Gladstone's also. This was so discouraging that Chamberlain
was for giving up the opposition ; but I pointed out how guarded
the language of the memorandvun was in reference to Gladstone,
and prophesied that if we persevered he would vote with us,
as in fact both he and Bright did. The result is therefore a
justification of my position, but, as I have said before, Lawson
needed no prompting.

A week later, on the Easter adjournment, the fearless
Sir Wilfrid returned to the charge. Lord Derby had de-
scribed the Government policy as one not of drifting but of
rushing into war. When a conflict might break out at
any moment an Easter recess of three weeks was inexcus-
able. His protest was supported by Fawcett and by
Courtney, who adjured the Government no longer to
obstruct the peaceful resettlement of the Near East. The
Leader of the House made a reassuring reply ; but next
day it was announced that Indian troops had been ordered
to Malta. The dragging crisis was ended by the Congress
of Berlin, from which the Prime Minister returned bringing
" peace with honour." In the debate on the Treaty
Courtney reiterated his disapproval of the policy of the
Government since 1876, argued that the same result might
have been attained without war had Great Britain joined
Russia in her threat of coercion, and denounced the Conven-
tion of Cyprus as discreditable and impracticable. " Turkey
is said to be, and probably is, stronger for defensive purposes
than before the war ; then why did not the Government

140 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

assent to coercion eighteen months ago and thereby attain
the same result without shedding blood or wasting wealth? "
The results might be considerable, but what a price had
been paid for them ! It was impossible to think Turkey
would have been so insane as to have resisted the will of
united Europe. Had she done so, the contest would have
been short and sharp. He was not on the whole displeased
with the Treaty of Berlin, though the neglect of Greek
interests was regrettable ; but he owed no thanks to the
Government for it, for it was got in spite of them. They
had made the cardinal mistake of supposing they could
restrain Russia by upholding a feeble Turkey, instead of
replacing Turkey by vigorous free states. The horror of
war, which seized them last year when for the world they
would not coerce Turkey, did not prevent them from bring-
ing over the Indian troops, caUing out the reserves, and
sending the Fleet to the Marmora in order to re-establish
the dominion of the Porte.

The session of 1878 was darkened and dominated by
the cloud in the East ; and Courtney was the only imofiicial
member who kept a close watch on South Africa.^ When
delegates from the Transvaal had protested against the
annexation, they had been told that their fellow-countrymen
were in favour of the change. On their return the assertion
was tested, and a Memorial hostile to the annexation was
signed by 6600 out of 8000 adtilt males. The correspond-
ence between the delegates and the Colonial Secretary was
circulated at the end of the session, and Comtney called
attention to it on the closing day. It was natural that he
should find confirmation in the plebiscite for his action in
the previous year ; but after reiterating his objection to
the annexation he passed to the practical question what
should be done. The delegates had come to England, and
they ought not to return without a Parhamentary discussion
of their grievances. The Colonial Secretary had told them
to accept the situation, return home and keep quiet ; but
something more was needed. " I should not advise the

1 Some years later Froude asked Mrs. Courtney how her husband
came to know so much about South Africa, and to be so right.

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 141

Government to restore their independence ; but we should
give them some message which they could take back which
would remove the disaffection. If we could satisfy the
aspirations for freedom and self-government I hope we shall
see gradually disappear the idea of a forcible attempt to
reassert their independence which is undoubtedly simmering.
Let us station troops at two or three points to avoid danger
with the natives, and let them have their own institutions,"
A great, empty country could not be governed like a popu-
lous British colony. The way to tranquilhse South Africa
was to grant local autonomy to the Transvaal. To this plea
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who had succeeded Lord Carnarvon
as Colonial Secretary, replied that it was mischievous to
excite hopes in the breasts of the delegates which could
not be gratified. Lord Carnarvon had never promised a
plebiscite, and the Government could not allow its policy to
be influenced by Memorials. The official reply satisfied the
House ; but Courtney's warning was to be recalled when the
neglect of his advice produced the evils which he foresaw.

A third cause for which Courtney had pleaded in his
first session was again championed by him in his second.
Jacob Bright 's Woman Suffrage Bill, for which he had
spoken in 1877, was taken over by him in 1878 and intro-
duced in June. At the opening of the sitting he presented
a number of petitions, one of them exclusively signed by
well-known women such as Florence Nightingale, Harriet
Grote and Anna Swan wick. " I rise," he began, " in the
well-assured beUef that it will be accepted in the Parlia-
mentary lifetime of many of the older members of this
House." Woman suffrage was a necessary element in
representative government. Moreover, it would create
interest in public affairs and strengthen the sense of citizen-
ship and solidarity. " By advancing woman you will
advance man with her. It will develop a fuller, freer,
nobler woman." ^ In answer to the charge that he adduced
arguments from the nebular region of natural rights he

^ He was, in the words of Miss Emily Davies, " a very early and valued
friend " of Girton, and was a member of the Executive Committee from
1876 to 1896.

142 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

avowed himself a pure utilitarian. " I base the whole oi
my argument — and all the philosophy to which I can lay
claim — on the doctrine of expediency." He and Gorst were
the Tellers for the Bill, which secured the encouraging
number of 140 Ayes to 220 Noes. To friends and foes aUke
the figures seem to confirm the sanguine forecast of the
opener's speech.

During the same session he deUvered the first of many
speeches on a theme as near to his heart as that of woman
suffrage. Quoting Mill's well-known statement that pro-
portional representation was the greatest reform still to be
made in the art of pohtics, and the dictum of Prevost-
Paradol that it would prove as important as the invention
of steam, he pointed out the narrowing influence of the
single-member constituency. MiU, for instance, after losing
his seat, could not have canvassed any constituency with
hope of success, and George Odger, one of the most trusted
of working-class leaders, could never secure election. Every
class, every school of thought should have its fair share of
power. The cumulative vote had been rejected in the
Franchise Act of 1867, but accepted in 1870 for the election
of school boards. He was now full of hope that when a
Reform BiU again came before the House something in the
shape of the representation of minorities would form part
of it. The Birmingham Confederation condemned the plan,
for they knew it would destroy their power. For his part
he would greatly rejoice if it produced that result. He
could not conceive how any person who had any knowledge
of the caucus system in the United States could watch the
growth of that Confederation without apprehension. Its
object was to repress local feeling, local energy and inde-
pendence, and it sent forth its orders over the land by means
of a great machinery of the most alarming character.
Chamberlain was not in his place to take up the challenge,
and the debate was cut short on the discovery that less than
forty members were present. No Minister thought it
worth his while to rise, and the missionary of the new faith
reaUsed once again that indifference is often a more formid-
able foe than hostihty.

vii THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 143

The prestige of the Government, which had never stood
higher than after the Congress of Beriin, began to wane in
the autumn when Lord Lytton, supported by his Russo-
phobe chief, plunged into an unprovoked war with
Afghanistan. For once the Opposition was united and
resolute, and when the new session was opened in December
Hartington vied with Gladstone in denouncing a policy
which drove the Amir into the arms of Russia, and demanded
the immediate recall of the bellicose Viceroy. Courtney
joined in the attack, and deUvered an impressive warning
against the Forward PoUcy on the Indian frontier. If the
result of the present war, he argued, was a rectification of
the frontier we should be driven, as soon as we had crossed
the crests of the mountain ranges, to pour down to the
vaUeys on the other side, as surely as water poured down,
a hiU. Three years ago he had visited the country and
taken the utmost pains to investigate the frontier question.
He found a general concurrence among all authorities, civil
and miUtary, against advancing the boundary. He beheved
we might defy Russian intrigue in India so long as we
governed the country justly and honestly.

To his sister Margaret

December 20, 1878. — My speech last week was delivered at
a very good hour, except that I was obliged to compress it too
much. I was not myself thoroughly satisfied with the effort,
but a good many friends seem to have thought highly of it.
Our side were in high spirits over the debate and the division,
while the Government supporters appeared out of heart and
cowed.

Though the Government majority remained at full
strength, its strength was beginning to ebb ; and while the
Afghan campaign was still in progress a new and even
graver complication arose in South Africa. The growth of
the Zulu power had for some time threatened both the
Transvaal and Natal, and in the autumn of 1878 Cetewayo
appeared to be in such a dangerous mood that the High
Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, applied for reinforcements.

144 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

The Cabinet refused, urging prudence and compromise ;
but Frere, honestly convinced that Natal was in danger,
took the bit in his teeth and launched an ultimatum, demand-
ing the break-up of the mihtary system of the Zulus and the
reception of a British Resident. No reply was vouchsafed,
and, after the expiry of the thirty days of grace, British
troops entered Zululand. Lord Chelmsford ignorantly
despised the enemy, but he was rudely awakened at
Isandhlana. Though the battle was fought on January 22,
the news only reached England on February 11, and Parlia-
ment, which had adjourned after a few days' work in
December, met under the shadow of the disaster. PubUc
opinion was bewildered by the suddenness and severity of
the shock, and Courtney's repeated warnings that the
annexation of the Transvaal would increase instead of
diminishing the native menace were freely recalled.

To his Father

February 13, 1879. — The session may be said to have begun
last night when there were divers dinners and two big receptions,
one at the Admiralty and the other at Lady Granville's. Mrs.
Smith sent me a card for the former and I went there first.
Almost all there were Ministers or Ministerial supporters or
permanent officials belonging to no party. I went in on the
heels of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was very civil.
I saw and shook hands with lots of people including Mrs. Smith,
but Smith himself I could only nod to across a crowd. When I
got to Lady Granville's the throng was immense. I found,
somewhat to my amusement, that this frightful business in
Zululand had made a great difference in my position. Mrs.
Pennington, who is always very good-natured, said, " Mr.
Courtney, you are the hero of the hour ; I have been told so two
or three times, and I have said, he deserves it." I met with
some evidence of the state of the case when I got up in the
saloons. Even Hartington was moved to open his mouth.
" You must feel in the proud position of the man who has been
right all along." Lord Granville I did not see till late ; I was
talking to Lord Dufferin, telling him, jokingly, that I should
come to see him at St. Petersburg, when I felt my elbow twitched
and turning round there was Lord Granville. We chatted
about nothing in particular for some time, and then he said.

VII THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 145

" Whenever you have a dull afternoon in the House there is
always tea here, dress or not dress." I don't know what he
meant exactly by the last words, as no one would dress for after-
noon tea, but his general intention was plain.

The obvious duty of the Government was either to recall
the High Commissioner or to support him ; but after taking
a month to reflect they chose a third course, combining a
sharp censure of his action with a request to remain at his
post. This illogical compromise positively invited attack,
and the Opposition in both Houses moved a vote of censure
on Sir Bartle Frere for making war, and on the Government
for not recalling him. On the third night of the debate on
Sir Charles Dilke's motion Courtney delivered what was
described by the speaker who followed him as an impassioned
harangue. Cetewayo, he declared, had not possessed the
power, even if he had the will, to carry out the threats
imputed to him ; and had he been so terrible and treacherous
he would have invaded Natal long ago when it was denuded
of troops. This line of attack was common to many of the
Opposition orators ; but the member for Liskeard threw his
net much wider. All our subsequent difficulties, he con-
tended, were due to the annexation of the Transvaal, which
increased our responsibihties and exposed our colonies to
certain and immediate danger. We had taken over a
country which, on account of its size and the hostiUty of
its inhabitants, we could not control, and we had inherited
its border quarrels. Now that the folly of our action had
been demonstrated, we should release the Transvaal and
thus erect a barrier between our colonies and the natives.

The war dragged on throughout the spring, and in May
Lord Chelmsford was superseded by Sir Garnet Wolseley,
who was also entrusted with supreme authority in the
Transvaal and Natal. Before, however, the new commander
reached his post, the Zulu army was defeated by Lord
Chelmsford at Ulundi. The peril was over, and there was
little left for Wolseley but to take Cetewayo captive. With
the end of the war in sight the political side of the South
African problem came up for consideration. At the close
of the session, in discussion of Supply, Courtney once more

L

146 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

drew his accustomed moral from the tale. The war, he
declared, had been inflicted on South Africa by Lord
Carnarvon and Sir Bartle Frere. The struggle with the
Zulus was only an episode — an illustration of the results of
a pohcy which would raise other enemies not more easily
subdued than Cetewayo. The Government's desire for
Confederation meant a policy of active extension and the
permanent retention of the Transvaal. When the colonies
were told that if they involved themselves in war they
must bear the consequences, there were twenty-five years
of peace. Frere had decided that our neighbours must be
subordinates ; equals they could not be. When we had
got rid of the Zulus or the Swazis, there would be some other
race to deal with, and we should be landed at the Zambesi.
As long as our colonists knew that in all their difficulties
we should come to their assistance, so long would they go
on calling upon us to do so. Retention of the Transvaal
involved keeping a British soldier in the country for every
Boer inhabitcint. Such a policy would have to be dropped
on account of its expense, if not of its immorahty.

In the later years of Beaconsfield's rule the attention of
Parhament was almost monopoUsed by war and rumours
of war. The author of Sybil and Coningsby had lost his
interest in the people and had learned to think in continents.
Meanwhile the friends of social and political reform renewed
their appeal in each succeeding session, not expecting to
secure the assent of a Conservative Chamber, but deter-
mined to prepare public opinion for the melting of the
snows. For the third time Courtney pleaded the cause of
Woman Suffrage, preferring, for the sake of variety, a
motion to a bill. On this occasion he was able to appeal to
the conversion of the State of Wyoming ; but the division
was disappointing, for only 103 supporters followed him
into the lobby.

To his sister Margaret

March 14, 1879. — You saw that my speech on Tuesday week
was a success. The effect of it may be best gathered from
Punch, especially if you remember how that great authority

vir THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 147

spoke of Blennerhassett and myself last year, when we discussed
the Representation of Minorities, On Wednesday I dined with
Lord Hartington. At the door I met Lord Houghton who was
overflowing ; he had been going to write me a pretty little
note, he said, and was almost sorry we had met, Hartington
himself was very cordial and chatty, and I asked after his cold
with affectionate interest. Friday's speech was not by any
means so good ; the audience was thin, and there was a creeping
fog in the House which became thicker at a later hour, but
Gladstone did me the compliment of listening most attentively,
and some of the ladies upstairs began to hope for his conversion.
The attack of Henry James at the end of the debate was rather
a tribute of respect than damaging. The division was exceed-
ingly unsatisfactory in respect of numbers — I hardly know why.

Though Courtney belonged to the Radical group of the
party, he was not an undiscriminating supporter of every
item in their programme. With admirable persistence
George Trevelyan brought forward an annual Resolution
for extending the franchise to the agricultural labourer.
The Conservatives could not be expected to support it, and
among the Whigs Lowe and Goschen were its declared
opponents. In 1877, however, it was blessed by Hartington,
and it was generally recognised that the next Liberal
Government would complete the work of 1867. The
member for Liskeard supported the demand, but refused to
vote for it unless accompanied by minority representation.
After the Resolution had been proposed and seconded by
Trevelyan and Dilke on March 4, 1879, he explained why
he could not support them in the lobby. The county
franchise, he believed, was bound to come, but he could not
desire it in the form presented by his friends. Trevelyan's
speeches showed no perception of the great and growing
evils which infested their electoral system. Almost the
whole party had now been won over ; but enfranchisement
was not representation. He would be delighted to see
Joseph Arch in the House, but would they get him by the
proposed machinery ? If they wished the newly enfran-
chised classes to obtain not only the vote, but representation,
not only the shadow, but the substance, they must adopt a
new plan. This distinction between enfranchisement and

148 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, vii

representation seemed mere pedantry to his Radical friends.
" Courtney declined to support the motion," wrote Sir
Wilfrid Lawson, " as it did not deal with the representation
of minorities. But three days later he moved a resolution
in favour of enfranchising women, even without the minority
matter being first attended to. How hard it is for even the
most honest and able of men (and he is one of them) always
to keep an even keel on poUtical voyages ! " ^

The autumn and winter of 1879 brought no rehef to
the tension of pubHc affairs. The Afghan campaign was
followed with anxious interest. The failure of the Irish
crops led to the foundation of the Land League by Michael
Davitt, and British industry was in the trough of the sea.
A month before Christmas Gladstone opened his Midlothian
campaign against the Dictator who had kept the country
in a fever of excitement with wars and rumours of war.
When ParUament met on February 5, 1880, it was under
the shadow of the impending election, and after a month of
listless debates a dissolution was announced. The Prime
Minister issued a Manifesto against Home Rule in a letter
to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland which served as his
Election Address ; but Home Rule was not before the
country, and the electorate voted on the record of the
Government. The cold fit had followed the hot fit, and
the prophet of Imperiahsm was hurled from power by the
Liberal leader whose windows had been smashed in 1878
by the Jingo mob.

* Russell, Life of Sir W. Lawson, p. 142.

CHAPTER VIII

THE TREASURY BENCH

No soldier in the Liberal army detested the Beaconsfield
policy more heartily, or threw himself into the fray with
greater zeal or confidence, than Courtney. A preliminary
skirmish took place in the Fortnightly Review, to which he
contributed a fighting article entitled " Turkish Fallacies
and British Facts." ^ It must now be confessed, he began,
that those who had striven for the independence and in-
tegrity of the Ottoman Empire had been false guides.
Great Britain should have followed Gladstone's advice and
joined the Great Powers or even Russia alone in compelling
the Porte to accept their joint counsels. Had war resulted,
which was improbable, it would have been far shorter and
less sanguinary than that which had occurred. " Men's
lives are to be used and, when necessary, to be spent ; and,
if the cause is adequate, I am ready to join in Wordsworth's
sentiment, ' Yea, Carnage is God's Daughter.' " All that
Great Britain had achieved was to water down the Treaty
of San Stefano, to the detriment of the Christian subjects
of the Sultan. Our poUcy had been mainly shaped by our
fear of an extension of Russian power, but her influence in
the Near East was very much greater than it would have
been had we co-operated with her in the risks and glories
of emancipation. Moreover, our intervention after a
struggle in which we had borne no part had merely deepened
the resolution of Russia to pursue her southward march.
Instead of assisting in the establishment of free States, we
had resisted the beneficent change and endeavoured to

* March 1880,
149

150 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

cripple its efficiency. Russia took upon herself the whole
duty of midwifery, and had won a corresponding degree of
gratitude and influence. The freed States felt no respect
for us, and the Sultan ostentatiously manifested disrespect.
Such were the bitter fruits of the Beaconsfield dictatorship.
" Liskeard," writes Lord Fitzmaurice, " was a con-
stituency peculiar in this, that to the last the majority of
the electors seemed to prefer a Liberal who was of an in-
dependent character, the sort of candidate in fact whom
the party wire-puller does not love. It was consequently
much sought after by Liberals of rather detached opinions.
In 1880 Courtney had to fight the Rt. Hon. E. P. Bouverie,
like Horsman a severe and independent critic of Mr. Glad-
stone and in earlier days of Lord Russell, who had forced
on him the sobriquet of the " candid friend." The contest
between these two so very similar candidates provoked
much amusement and some heart-burnings, and it was said
at the time that there ought to have been two Liskeards,
one for Mr. Courtney, the other for Mr. Bouverie." As
there was unfortunately only one Liskeard, and as the
country clamoured for Gladstone, there was never much
doubt as to the result.

To his sister Margaret

March 4. — I suppose you are all more or less excited over
Bouverie's candidature. If he persists we shall beat him well ;
but he may still prefer to try Salisbury,

March 23 (on reaching Liskeard). — Bouverie's defeat seems
to me absolutely certain. I shall be disappointed if the majority
against him is less than 80, and I don't think it will be so low.

The seat was held by a majority of 69. On his journey
to London Courtney met W. H. Smith, " rejoicing that we
had a good majority and not displeased to be reUeved from
hard work." A pile of congratulations awaited him, among
them a warm letter from Lord Granville, who had shown
him more attention than any other Liberal leader. Of
greater interest was a communication from the new Prime
Minister.

vin THE TREASURY BENCH 151

From W. E. Gladstone

April 29, 1880. — I have the pleasure of proposing to you
that you should permit me to place your name before the Queen
as Secretary to the Board of Trade under the Administration
which I am engaged in forming. It will be a great advantage
to us to have the aid of your ability and energy in our arduous
work. I ought to add, as the office has heretofore been on a
different footing, that the salary will be £1200 a year.

Should you do me the favour to accept, please to let the
matter remain secret until I have had time to lay it before
Her Majesty.

The reply was despatched within a few hours.

To W. E. Gladstone

I must thank you very heartily for the kind offer you have
made me and for the very handsome terms in which it is couched.
I find myself, however, compelled to ask you to excuse my accept-
ing it, and I hope you will forgive me if I frankly explain my
reason. It is simply that I foresee many questions must soon
come before Parliament for settlement which I have very much
at heart, and I think I shall best promote them as a friendly
and sympathetic supporter of your administration. I am
drawn most reluctantly to this conclusion, as I should have been
glad to have proved myself capable of loyal co-operation in
official life.

The desire for a free hand on certain outstanding ques-
tions, however, was neither the only nor the principal
reason for refusing office.

To his Father

May Day 1880. — I have but a very little time to write as
I have people to see immediately, but I have a bit of news I
think you would like to know and ought to know. On Thursday
evening Mr. Gladstone sent me a letter offering me the Secretary-
ship of the Board of Trade. I was a good deal puzzled what to
do, but after the best consideration and such consultation as
was possible I sent back a note yesterday morning decUning the
offer. The Secretaryship would be under Chamberlain as Presi-
dent, which did not recommend it, but I could and should have
got over this had it been in another department. At the Board

152 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

of Trade there is not Parliamentary work for more than one man,
and I should have been completely effaced for a couple of years
or so without any advantage in the way of official experience.
I hope this will not displease you. Since I came to the conclu-
sion I have not seen reason to doubt the balance was struck on
the right side, though I should have liked the other way.

John Courtney recorded his approval of the decision at
the foot of the letter. " William and I, after hearing the
pros and cons, think with Leonard it was wiser to decline ;
it would have tied his tongue in the House and reduced him
to a nonentity. Pecuniarily he loses nothing."

A few details of the crowding events of the past month
are added in a letter to his oldest friend, now a leading
figure in the business and political life of New Zealand.

To Richard Oliver

May 4, 1880. — Telegrams and newspapers will, I hope, have
explained my long silence. I have gone through a contested
election and a Ministerial crisis. The first occupied me three
weeks or more, just before and just after Easter. My opponent
Bouverie is a man who has held a good position in the House
of Commons in the past, but having no love for Gladstone he
tormented him a good deal in the Parliament of 1868-74 and
was rejected at the dissolution by the constituency for which
he had sat for thirty years. Being out, he fell more and more
behind in his opinions, and he opposed me as a moderate Liberal
not disapproving of the foreign pohcy of Lord Beaconsfield.
I was never anxious about the result, but I was forced to remain
continually at Liskeard. The end of all was a victory for myself,
and a great victory for the party — due, as I believe, to a general
belief that Dizzy was adding trouble to trouble. The voters that
swayed around did not object to the immorality of his poHcy,
but that it did not work out smoothly. Gladstone offered me a
place, that of Secretary to the Board of Trade, and I decHned
it. It was a difficult thing to decide, but I beUeve I came to
the right conclusion. I should have been Secretary under
Chamberlain as President, and he is not the man I should select
as a superior ; but this I could have got over had the work of
the department been sufficient to occupy both of us. It is not,
and the result would have been that I should have been com-
pletely silenced in the House on general topics (Parhamentary
Reform, South Africa, Ireland, etc.) without the compensating

viii THE TREASURY BENCH 153

feeling that I was proving my capacity for departmental work.
My own people fully back me up in my decision, and in the
House of Commons it seems to have excited a certain kind of
respect and admiration, although there are many who think
that every man should take the first footing offered him. After
I refused the berth it was offered to George Trevelyan, who
declined, and it was then accepted by Evelyn Ashley.

Further light is thrown on the formation of the new
Ministry by an entry in Sir Charles Dilke's Memoirs. " On
May I I had John Morley to dinner to meet Chamberlain,
who was still sta5dng with me. We talked over the men
who had been left out. Edmimd Fitzmaurice was one, but
Mr. Gladstone did not care about having brothers. At
Chamberlain's wish Courtney had been offered the Secretary-
ship of the Board of Trade, which, however, he declined.
He would have taken the place of Judge Advocate General,
but it was not offered him." It was suggested at the same
dinner that Courtney might succeed Sir Henry Drummond
Wolff on the Commission for Reforms, appointed under
Article 23 of the Treaty of Berhn, for the European provinces
of Turkey and Crete ; but the place was eventually filled by
Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice.^

Courtney congratulated himself on his liberty when he
discovered from the Queen's speech that the new Govern-
ment had resolved to retain the Transvaal ; and on the
second day of the debate on the Address he wrathfuUy
challenged the volte-face. Had not the new members in
their election campaign denounced the conduct of the late
Government in South Africa ? Yet they were asked to
support in Parliament what they had condemned in the
country, " The Boers will not be able to understand this
change. They will ask why their wrongs, which were made
so much of a few months ago, are not even recognised now."
Moreover in the course of debate it was announced that Sir
Bartle Frere was to remain at his post, though only a year
ago Sir Charles Dilke had moved for his recall and every
member of the new Cabinet had voted for it The Radicals
had no intention of allowing the matter to rest. " On

^ Life of Dilke, i. 316-17.

154 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

May 24," writes Sir Charles Dilke/ " I found that Courtney
and my brother (Ashton Dilke), with Dr. Cameron and
Jesse Collings, were getting up an attempt to coerce the
Colonial Office and Mr. Gladstone by preparing a list of
between one and two hundred members who would vote
with Wilfrid Lawson for a censure on the Government for
not recalling Frere. Childers had found that it would be
easy to recall him, for Frere had said that he would only go
out for two years, and the two years were over. No doubt
Frere, while blameworthy for the Zulu war, was not respon-
sible for the Transvaal business ; but with our people he
received the whole discredit for all that went wrong in South
Africa, and it was impossible to wonder at it when one re-
called the language that he habitually used, Frere was
protected by Mr. Gladstone, and allowed to remain, a mistake
for which we very gravely suffered." The Memorial to
the Prime Minister, set on foot by Comtney and Dillwyn and
signed by about ninety Members of Parliament, was sent in
on June 3. " We, the undersigned members of the Liberal
party, respectfully submit that as there is a strong feeling
throughout the country in favour of the recall of Sir Bartle
Frere, it would greatly conduce to the unity of the party and
reheve many members from the charge of breaking their
pledges to their constituents if that step were taken." ^
The first three signatures were Dillwyn, Wilfrid Lawson
and Courtney. The Cabinet deferred its decision on the
ground that the Cape Parliament was shortly to discuss the
problem of federation.

While Downing Street was waiting for Cape Town, the
Boer leaders despatched an urgent memorandum to Courtney
in support of his demand for the recall of Frere.

From Kruger and Jouhert

Capetown, June 26, 1880. — We beg leave again to send you
some particulars relating to the state of affairs here. In the
Friday sitting of the House of Assembly the Jingo-imperial
policy received a deadly blow, to our great satisfaction because
this result may lead to a better understanding at home how

^ Life of Dilke, i. 319. * Martineau, Life of Sir Bartle Frere, ii. 391.

viii THE TREASURY BENCH 155

utterly wrong and how impossible, how full of evil consequences,
that policy is. The Zulu war was a strong lesson, but although
it poured down streams of blood, and with a very few exceptions
was as dishonourable as it was disastrous, this lesson was not
powerful enough to force the Home Government to enter into
a new and better way. They maintained Sir Bartle Frere, they
denied any rights to the Transvaal, believing that the great
statesman would be able to prepare the panacea for all the evils
in South Africa. This panacea was the Confederation of the
colonies in South Africa. Sir Bartle Frere, although not the
intellectual author of this scheme, certainly may be called its
great advocate. He was and is continually arguing not only
the advisability of this scheme but the practicability, moreover
contending that it is universally desired and applauded.

We, taking it to be our duty, attempted all legal means in
order to frustrate the scheme of a Conference. The only safety-
valve for our country is the restoration of our independence.
We are prepared — when right prevails again in the Transvaal —
to consider all reasonable proposals for a closer union with the
colonies. It is well known that the Republic repeatedly and in
several resolutions has given expression to the same view. So
did again the people in their mass-meeting of December last.
But so long as the annexation is not rescinded we will do all
we can to frustrate any scheme of the Imperial Government.
England must come to the conviction that there is a great wrong
here. The confidence in Sir Bartle Frere wiU by this time be
utterly shaken. It cannot be longer denied that, so far as regards
the Transvaal, Sir Bartle Frere is guilty of premeditated false-
hood and mystification. Look at his despatch to the Colonial
Secretary of the i8th of June 1879, reading as follows: "The
great majority of the farmers whom I met with, even of those
who had assisted at the large meetings of the Boers, did not
wish the Republic back." Of all English officials honouring the
Transvaal with their visits, no one raised such a deep and intense
feehng of distrust, and no EngHsh statesman stirred up the
hatred of our countr3mien against English government more
than Sir Bartle Frere. Really we are of opinion, if it was not
for him. South African difficulties would not have been heard
of. All over South Africa reigns a general feehng of harmony ;
we are ripe and adapted for a closer union ; we are strong
enough and (we beg most humbly pardon : Aborigines Society !)
Christianlike enough to conduct the government of the natives
in a strong and rightful way. But the system has sown the seeds
of animosity and hatred between Englishmen and Africanders.

156 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

If, at the time of our difficulties, they had assisted us in a fair
and generous way, the grateful people would have been ready
for great sacrifices. Yes, even now, let a generous poUcy towards
us be followed, and we assure you the people wiU be found
inclined to meet you. We apologise, dear Sir, for having taken
perhaps a valuable portion of your time, but we trust most
sincerely that you will further aid and assist us.

A month after this letter was written the Dutch in Cape
Colony made it clear that they would never support a policy
detested by the Transvaal, which demanded the restoration
of its independence. Federation being thus indefinitely
postponed, the Cabinet finally resolved to recall Frere. To
the end of his Ufe Courtney looked back with satisfaction on
his share in the recall of a man who, despite his high character
and attractive personaUty, incarnated for him the spirit of
aggressive ImperiaHsm. After gaining his way on the minor
issue he returned to the larger problem of the Transvaal ;
and at the close of the session he solemnly adjured the
Government to undo the error of their predecessors. It
would be more wise, dignified and honourable, he declared,
to renounce the authority we had assumed. They all
admitted the annexation to have been a mistake. (No !
No !) Then it must be branded by a stronger name. At
the Cape and Natal there was the same conviction, shared
even by those who had been foremost in applauding the
act and even by those who had vehemently urged it. There
had been a revulsion of feeUng in South Africa, for some
new facts had emerged. President Burgers, for instance,
had received a pension of £500. The repugnance of the
Boers to foreign control was invincible. He would be told
by the Colonial Office that the Boers were toning down and
would recognise accomphshed facts. They had heard such
statements over and over again ; but they had always been
falsified. The Government had never dared to convene the
Volksraad. He held in his hand a Memorial to the Prime
Minister signed by 6000 Boers begging him to restore liberty
to the Transvaal ; but when the signatories heard that he
had changed his mind, they refused to send it to him, and
it had been forwarded to himself. " We cannot have a

VIII THE TREASURY BENCH 157

federation with an unwilling State forming part. The spirit
of interference with institutions which are not ours, because
they do not come up to our standard of excellence, is folly.
We are told that if we retire we shall leave confusion and
anarchy ; but did that consideration prevent our retirement
from Afghanistan ? " It was a slashing indictment, the
effect of which was increased by the statement of Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach, the late Colonial Secretary, that he was perfectly
satisfied with the pohcy of his successor Lord Kimberley.

The session only lasted from the middle of May till the
beginning of September. The first skirmishes were fought on
the election of Bradlaugh, which puzzled men of conscience
Hke the Prime Minister and gave scope to the sharp-shooters
of the Fourth Party. Courtney, who was never in doubt as to
his own course, looked on the conflict with disgust and in-
dignation. He voted for permission to affirm, and, when this
course was forbidden by the Court, he voted for permission
to take the oath. When this was also forbidden, he de-
manded that the- law must be altered to allow any member
to make an affirmation, and told his constituents that he
could not understand how any Liberal could take part in
excluding a duly elected representative on account of his
atheistical opinions. A far greater anxiety for the new
Government was the distress and discontent of Ireland,
which was intensified by the increase of evictions and by the
Lords' rejection of the Compensation for Disturbance Bill.
The Land League promptly retahated by the invention of
the boycott, and the Chief Secretary, Forster, spent the
autumn in grapphng with hunger, outrage and despair.
Courtney had visited Ireland in 1868, but he now determined
to devote his autumn hohday to a tour through the disturbed
districts.

To his sister Margaret

September 8, 1880, — I have promised to go to Liverpool to
open the Junior Reform Club next Thursday, and shaU probably
leave here the day before. Being asked in this way is a great
compliment. Lord Northbrook had undertaken to open the
Club, but the Session lasted so long that he is only now visiting
the Dockyards. If the reports from Penzance continue good

158 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

I think I shall venture to run over to the west of Ireland for a
fortnight, and I have written asking Roby whether he will go.
The reports in the newspapers about appointments are all
premature, and I think they may perhaps be traced to Fawcett,
who conceived the arrangement more than a month ago. From
what I hear my appointment as Secretary of the Treasury
would be approved, but I doubt whether Gladstone would offer
it to me. This is one of those offices which do not vacate a seat,
so there would be no re-election. Last week and the week before
I was dining in Ministerial circles — last Tuesday at Harcourt's,
where everybody but myself was in the Ministry, and the
previous Wednesday at Henry James', where all were Ministers
except young Spencer and myself. The said young Spencer is Lord
Spencer's half-brother and presumptive heir — one of the youngest
Members of the House, who dehghts us all with his collars and
boyishness.

Roby was not available for the Irish tour ; but an
excellent substitute was found in David Wedderburn.
Courtney's observations and reflections were recorded in two
articles written for an American Review, and were explained
in speeches delivered during the autumn recess. He sur-
veyed the work of the new Government in an address at
Liverpool. He confessed that he had not been distinguished
for unbroken submissiveness ; but in voting against
Ministers he had always been a sincere and helpful friend.
No function could be more useful than that of encouraging
them to their best efforts. No Government could be strong
unless it was thus pressed, just as a Member of Parliament
needed energetic, troublesome men among his constituents
who would keep their representative in the right path.
Despite occasional mistakes, moreover, the Ministry could
show a very creditable record. " The late Government has
brought us into trouble in every quarter of the world and
left our domestic affairs in the greatest disorder. Whether
we look to Europe, Asia, Africa, to trade at home or to the
condition of Ireland, you find enough to reduce an incoming
Ministry to something Uke despair." What then had the
new Government done ? In Asia they had had the magnifi-
cent courage to evacuate Afghanistan. Sir Bartle Frere
was on his way back to England. In the Near East they had

VIII THE TREASURY BENCH 159

reversed the policy of their predecessors and were about to
obtain for Montenegro her rights under the Treaty of Berlin.
The gravest problem which now confronted them was Ireland.
To acquiesce in whatever she asked was to treat her as foolish
mothers treat foolish children. Under no circumstances
could Home Rule be accepted. Peasant proprietorship was
sometimes proposed ; but a far better plan would be the
judicial fixing of rent, with free sale and security against
eviction. Accompanied by a Local Government Bill it
would remove the demand for Home Rule, and discontent
would, he beheved, disappear.

A week or two later, in an address to his constituents,
he dealt more fully with the Irish question. He invited
sympathy with the statesman who had done so much for
Ireland in 1869 and 1870, and who now, on returning to
office, found the country in a worse condition than ever.
Drawing on his recent experiences in the west he described
the uneconomic holdings, the misery, the filth, the boy-
cotting. His prescription for the suffering patient was two-
fold. On the one hand the arm of the executive should be
strengthened. Habeas Corpus should be suspended where
necessary, and fire-arms should be prohibited ; on the other
land reform — fixity of tenure, fair rents and free sale — should
be pushed on, local government should be developed, and
the State should assist emigration to Canada. There was
no need for despair and stiU less for Home Rule, which would
reduce the country to its phght before the great famine.
This address set forth the programme which the speaker was
to advocate for the next twenty years.

It was an open secret that Courtney had been offered a
post on the formation of the Government, and his transfer
to the Treasury Bench was universally and in some quarters
impatiently anticipated. " I am stiU unhappy at their
meeting Parhament with Courtney out in the cold," wrote
Lord Acton from Cannes to Mary Gladstone on December
14.1 Ten days later he was offered the post of Under-
Secretary for the Home Office ; and this time the invitation
was conditionally accepted.

^ Letters, p. 40.

i6o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To W. E. Gladstone

Penzance, December 25. — Your letter was delivered to me
yesterday evening just before I left London, and I must ask
you to excuse me for not having replied to it on the spot. I
am sincerely grateful to you for offering me a second time an
opportunity of joining your Administration, and I have great
pleasure in accepting the same, with many thanks for the kind
consideration of your reference to Ireland. There is another
subject to which I trust you will allow me to refer. The question
of the Transvaal has in due course entered upon a new phase,
now that the Boers are organised in opposition to our rule. My
opinions on this subject remain as I expressed them near the
end of last Session, when I urged a frank acknowledgment of
the error of annexation, and an abandonment of the impossible
task of coercing the Boers. Holding these views, I would ask
to be allowed to absent myself from any division that may be
raised on our policy in the Transvaal. I simply ask for the
privilege of a silent abstention.

The permission was promptly and graciously accorded.

From W. E. Gladstone

December 27, 1880. — I have received your note with pleasure.
Your request about the Transvaal is, I think, altogether reason-
able ; and, although a certain amount of inconvenience must
always arise on both sides in such cases, I have no hesitation
in at once acceding to it.

" I had borne my testimony and freed my conscience,"
explained Courtney to his constituents ; " and it appeared
to me that, having done so, there was no longer an obstacle
to accepting office. If it were true, as the agents of the
Government asserted, that the Boers were reconciled,
then we should have peace. If, as I surmised, they were
still irreconcileable, the future would declare itself." It was
a source of keen satisfaction to the new Minister that his
father was stiU alive to witness his success. A few weeks
later John Courtney passed away at the age of seventy-
seven. On his return from Penzance the new Minister
settled down to work at the Home Office under his chief
Sir William Harcourt.

viii THE TREASURY BENCH i6i

- To his sister Margaret

January 3, 188 1. — Here is my first letter on official paper.
I come over here about i p.m., that being the hour fixed by
Harcourt, who was out of town yesterday. I have made myself
free of the office, appointed a private secretary, had an interview
with Sir Edward Ducane, going over the Prison Estimates with
him and Harcourt, and otherwise transacted business. I found
no end of letters of congratulation on Saturday evening, more
at the Reform Club yesterday, and more at Queen Anne's Gate
and here again to-day.

January 12. — I am now regularly at work and cannot say
I find it very exhausting, while it is sufficiently interesting.
I come somewhere between 11 and 12, and if the House is sitting
I go at 4, otherwise between 5 and 6. Work is, however, slack
just now, as all Parliamentary business is shut off through the
pressure of Irish work, and I doubt whether the Home Office
will pass any Bills this session. I dined at Gladstone's this
day week. This was not done without difficulty as I had to
get an official uniform, and, the time being so short, I was driven
to hire one. I found, however, so many great personages had
hired such things before — the Prime Minister himself going there
one afternoon for a uniform of a Captain in the Navy to wear
as Elder Brother at a Trinity House dinner — that I was greatly
reheved ; but I am vexed to say that I shall have to hire the
suit again next Wednesday to dine with the Speaker — ^it being
impossible to do the embroidery of a new coat under a fortnight.
When I got to Gladstone's nearly all were assembled, and the
door being then shut he read us the Queen's Speech ; he stood
up, as indeed we were all standing, with a candle in his right
hand and the speech in his left, and he read it Hke the Funeral
Service. The Speaker standing close by in his black velvet
coat and with bent head seemed chief mourner. You saw
O'Donnell's question on Monday. I really think he did me a
service without intending it, for when I rose to reply there was
cheering all about, and more hearty and prolonged on account
of this question.^ The congratulations I have received have
been innumerable, and I think my appointment has given general
satisfaction in the House.

^ Question. " Whether the Under-Secretary intends this year to bring
in a motion condemning the annexation of the Transvaal.

Answer. " I have done that so often that I think the House must be
in full possession of my views, which I may now allow to be tested by
the logic of events."

M

i62 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

The storm which the new Minister had long foretold had
broken out before he accepted office, though the news had
not reached London. Gladstone's denunciations of the
annexation of the Transvaal had naturally raised the hopes
of the Boers that he would rescind it, and for several months
they waited patiently for their fulfilment. The Prime
Minister, however, reluctantly came to the conclusion that
it was impossible to undo the past. The men on the spot
assured him that the Boers were becoming reconciled to
British rule ; and there was a feehng in the Cabinet, not
indeed logical but none the less powerful, that as they had
resolved to withdraw from Kandahar, British prestige com-
pelled them to retain Pretoria. It was a fatal mistake, as
Gladstone realised when the Boers rose in revolt ; and he
promptly reverted to his earlier principle that it was neither
right nor wise to rule over unwilling subjects. Though
the soldiers naturally desired that the conflict should be
fought to a finish, the Cabinet promised full self-government
to the Transvaal if the Boers would accept the supremacy of
the Queen, and refused to aUow the defeat of Majuba Hill to
interrupt negotiations.

Courtney, who had bargained for his freedom, refused
to support the Government in the division lobby until it
had determined to annul the annexation. Meanwhile the
friends of the Boer cause in South Africa and Holland wrote
to him in protest and appeal ; but, as an Under-Secretary
can neither determine nor criticise the policy of the Govern-
ment, he could offer nothing but advice.

From G. J. Beeberts

The Hague, January 22, 1881. — Our Dutch Committee is
daily more urgently requested, partly from here but much more
by letters from England, to intercede with the belligerent Boers.
We are urged to persuade them that they might ask for peace,
and especially that they might escort safely to Natal the be-
leaguered garrisons with women and children. Now our Com-
mittee has systematically abstained from corresponding with
the Cape or with the Boers. We thought and think it our first
duty to avoid anything which might endanger the cause we wish

VIII THE TREASURY BENCH 163

to serve, or give any pretext to the annexation party. On the
other side it would be very grievous for us afterwards to think
that we had omitted a step which might have favoured our
cause, and which we were advised to take by our EngUsh friends.
In every respect it must be perfectly clear that we never shall
try to induce the Boers to lay down their arms unless we are
absolutely sure that — after due satisfaction made and pardon
asked — full independence (no autonomy nor protectorate) shall
be the result. In other letters we are asked to memorialise our
Government in order that it may offer its good services for
mediation or the Uke. We are very wilUng to do so ; but, if
there is no chance whatsoever that the offer will be accepted,
it is not worth while trying. For these reasons, dear Sir, I
venture to apply to you and beg you to indicate if we can serve
our cause by acting in one of the above respects.

To G. J. Beeberts

January 26, 1881. — I find it extremely difficult to reply to
your letter, and there is indeed one declaration in it which
almost disposes of the possibiHty of a reply. You write " it
must be perfectly clear that we shall never try to induce the
Boers to lay down their arms unless we are absolutely sure that
— after due satisfaction made and pardon asked — full independ-
ence shaU be the result." It is at present impossible to give
you this absolute surety, and if you make this an indispensable
condition nothing can be done. I am, however, persuaded
that every proof of self-control on the part of the Boers, every
instance of regard to the rules of civiHsed war, every act of
kindness to beleaguered garrisons or to women, would greatly
tend to help their cause. I grieve to send you so scant a letter,
but under the present circumstances I can do httle but long
that the great scandal of our contest with the Boers may soon
pass away, nor can I suggest any steps for our own adoption.

The decision of the Liberal pilot to stick to his course in
spite of Majuba roused his new colleague to rare enthusiasm.
" I rejoice that the Government adhered to their proposals,"
he told his constituents. " I know no greater instance of
Christian conduct on the part of any Government in declaring
that the shedding of English blood should not be avenged.
I stamp as heathenish and horrible the assertion that we
have been humiliated because we did not insist on blood

l64 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

for blood. I say on the contrary that we have been glorified
among nations." The resolve of the Cabinet was defended
in cooler language by the First Lord of the Admiralty, who
refused to accept the common view that we " took a beating "
and afterwards treated for peace. " Negotiations for an
honourable settlement had been begun by the Boers,"
wrote Lord Northbrook, " and accepted by us. These
negotiations were jeopardised by our General exceeding his
instructions. The only right course for the Government,
though naturally unpopular, was to recognise the error of
their General and to continue the negotiations as if that
error had not been committed." ^ On the other hand
Courtney never ceased to blame the Liberal Cabinet for
causing the revolt by refusing to undo the annexation
directly they came into power. Had his advice been
followed there would have been no rising, no bloodshed, no
loss of prestige and no fermenting memories of martial
triumph in the breast of the Boers.

Though Courtney had played no public part in the recent
controversy his views and sympathies were generally known
in South Africa, where they naturally found both support
and antagonism. He was violently attacked by a British
settler in the Transvaal named White ; and when in a
letter to the Times he asked for proofs of the whirhng
charges, no reply was forthcoming. Among those who
throughout approved his attitude in South African affairs
was the distinguished mathematician and Hebrew scholar,
like himself a Fellow of St. John's, who as Bishop of Natal
had won the confidence and affection of the natives in a
degree unapproached by any other white man of his time.

From Bishop Colenso

August 7, 1881. — We hear by telegraph from England that
you are likely to succeed Mr. Grant Duff at the Colonial Office.
Most sincerely shall I rejoice if this report should turn out to
be true. But in any case I am sure that I may congratulate
you on the settlement of the Transvaal difficulty without further
bloodshed. The terms of the Convention seem to be upon the

^ Mallet, Earl Northbrook, pp. 162-3.

vin THE TREASURY BENCH 165

whole as good for all parties — natives included — as could have
been expected under the circumstances, though the Boers have
control over Sikukuni's country and, I am sorry to say, have
also been awarded a part of the Disputed Territory which was
given to the Zulus by the Border Commission, but was taken
away and annexed to the Transvaal by Sir Garnet Wolseley,
which he would never have done, I beUeve, if he had not wished
to please the Boers and get them to acquiesce in the English
rule. However, we must be thankful that the wrong done by
the annexation has been to so large an extent rectified, and the
only real cause for regret is that the present Government were
so misled by the information they received from high officials
on the spot, that they lost the grand opportunity of carrying
out from the first the retrocession of the Transvaal before the
disastrous fighting took place.

The rumour which had reached the Bishop was correct ;
and when Mountstuart Grant Duff was appointed Governor
of Madras in August 1881, Courtney succeeded to the vacant
post. Now that the barometer in South Africa pointed to
fair he had no longer any difference with the Cabinet, and
he welcomed the change of office as affording him a wider
opportunity of shaping large questions of policy. A further
advantage was that his chief, Lord Kimberley, was in the
Upper House. As the session was almost over, the Minister
had time to famiUarise himself with his new duties during
the recess.

To his sister Margaret

November 5, 1881. — Everything is going on quietly here.
I come to the office day after day, work till six or so, and a dinner
at the Club with Morley's Cohden for evening reading finishes
the day. On Wednesday I dined at the Club with the said
Morley, Herbert Spencer and Tyndall, and the four of us then
went to the St. James's Theatre.

At the end of his first session on the Treasury Bench the
Minister paid his usual visit to Liskeard. Its main legisla-
tive achievement was the Irish Land Bill, creating machinery
for the fixing of fair rents for a term of years. The interven-
tion of the State between landlord and tenant horrified a
certain school of opinion, and led Lord Lansdowne, himself

i66 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

an Irish landlord, to resign his post in the Ministry. To
Courtney, on the other hand, it appeared to open up a
prospect of reconciliation. " It is not robbing men of their
property," he told his constituents, " but giving men what
is their own. It will operate as a message of peace." The
process of improvement, however, would be slow, for nothing
less than the conversion of the peasant into a sober and
thrifty citizen was needed.

Friend and foe agreed that the House of Commons was
dominated by the personaUty of the Prime Minister ; and
the Colonial Under-Secretary, who was far too independent
to indulge in hero-worship, sounded a note of warning
against leaning too heavily on the veteran commander.
" No man deserves the conj&dence of the nation better than
Gladstone," he declared at Liskeard ; " but though we
must rejoice in his strength and give thanks that such a
man has been raised to lead us, we ought to be ashamed if in
his absence Liberal principles would be in jeopardy. I am
not quite sure that we are not too dependent on him. We
must struggle against the tendency to weaken the strength
of each man's wiU as the unit of the political body and to
make us too dependent on the leader of the hour." It was
a curious declaration for a Minister ; but it expressed his
hfe-long conviction that it was the duty of citizens of a
self-governing community to think for themselves. In
the spring of 1882 the representation of East Cornwall
became vacant, and Courtney was strongly urged by his
party to accept it. He stoutly refused to leave Liskeard,
and held to his ground despite the combined onslaught of
the Prime Minister and the Chief Whip. The contest of
wills created a good deal of interest, and the harassing
incident was narrated in a long letter to Penzance.

To his sister Margaret

March 17, 1882. — I suppose you have not been free from
the excitement which has surrounded me for two days about
East Cornwall. I have been able to maintain my resolution,
to which I mean to adhere, not to leave Liskeard. When I was
first asked on Wednesday I said no. I was against the proposal

VIII THE TREASURY BENCH 167

because I did not feel sure of winning the county, while I believed
Bouverie would slip in for the borough. I left the House to
escape worry, but was pursued by a note from Gladstone urging
me to accept the invitation, to which I repUed, as before, we
must wait for Hawke. Then Hawke ^ appeared alarmed at the
notion of my leaving Liskeard, dead against it, and declaring
that our best friends felt dismay at the prospect. Then an
interview between Hawke and myself and Grosvenor, respecting
which Hawke said to me on coming away, " that man is mad."
Then an interview between myself and Gladstone, firm and
courteous and even friendly, but intimating that in his opinion I
had no choice as a member of the party and still more of the
Government ; and I demurring and decUning. In the afternoon I
had seen John Morley, before dinner I had a walk with Fawcett,
and later a talk both with Chamberlain and Dilke, all of whom are
stout in the opinion that my decision is right both as regards
myself and the party. This morning telegrams and messages
have been flying about from newspapers and from persons
wanting to stand for Liskeard. I have seen Hawke again, who
is greatly relieved and delighted. On the other hand Gladstone
and Grosvenor are both sore, and may try to press me again,
and it is possible — though not, I think, likely — that I may have
to give up office, a result I should receive with great equanimity
if not satisfaction.

The Prime Minister gave vent to his chagrin in a brief
letter.

From W. E. Gladstone

March 16, 1882. — I have received your note, but I think I
ought to say that I am grievously disappointed at its contents.

In May 1882, despite the controversy about East Corn-
wall, the Prime Minister appointed Courtney Secretary of
the Treasury, a post vacated by the promotion of the ill-
fated Lord Frederick Cavendish to the Chief Secretaryship
for Ireland. Of the three Ministerial offices in which he
served the latest and the last was that for which he was
best fitted. His mathematical training and his studies in
political economy and finance had already marked him out
for Treasury work, and led observers to hail in him a future

^ Chairman of the Liskeard Liberal Association. The retention of
the seat by a Liberal justified Courtney's decision.

i68 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Chancellor of the Exchequer. One admirer compared him
to Comewall Lewis, " the model of a student-statesman."
In that remote age the Treasury possessed considerable
authority, and was staffed by men deeply imbued with
Gladstone's conviction that its main task was to prevent
waste and extravagance. With this spirit the new Minister
was in full accord. The older type of official was flattered
when the spending departments accused the Treasury of
stinginess and obstruction, and Courtney bore the protests
and rebukes of his Ministerial colleagues with serene com-
placency. It was a thankless task to hold the purse-strings,
for the Treasury never receives any gratitude from the
pubUc ; but its work was essential to the financial health
of the State.

" When he became^ Secretary to the Treasury," writes
Lord Eversley,^ " I was at the head of the Office of Works,
and we often came into conflict on questions of expenditure
where I thought that he exercised too rigid a control," His
economy was naturally more appreciated by his colleagues
in the task of guarding the national purse. " I am sorry to
say," writes Sir Algernon West,^ " that I am the only one
who was in high office now surviving of those who were
brought into intimate official relations with him at that
time. I was Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue
and had many opportunities of personal intercourse with
him and of learning the opinion of Lord Welby and others,
and I am sure that I correctly interpret their opinion,
which coincides with my own, that we were struck not only
by his great abiUty but by the very remarkable power he
displayed in his thorough mastery of all the questions
coming before the Treasury. Sir Francis Mowatt, who was
in the office at the time, entirely agrees with what I say.
I very distinctly recollect our sincere regret at his resignation
of the Secretaryship." The verdict, is confirmed by the
testimony of his old friend and colleague. Lord Fitzmaurice.
" He soon obtained the reputation of being the sternest of
the economists who had occupied the post, though in former

^ Letter to the author, June 25, 1918.
* Letter to the author, August i, 1918.

vm THE TREASURY BENCH 169

years it had been held by Mr. Baxter and by Mr. A5ni;on,
who were believed to have materially contributed to the
faU of Mr. Gladstone's first administration. It became the
joke to say that whereas formerly Members of Parliament
appealed for gentler treatment from the Permanent Secre-
tary, Sir Ralph Lingen, to the Parhamentary Secretary,
now the appeal had to be from the Parhamentary Secretary
to the tender mercies of Sir Ralph Lingen. But none the
less I never heard any complaints made of these decisions
being embittered by those graces of manner which had
excited such furious bitterness at an earlier period."

Courtney enjoyed his work and appreciated the humorous
side of some of its incidents, one of which is preserved in the
Diary of Grant Duff.^ At the meeting of the Breakfast
Club on April 28, 1900, " Courtney told a story when we
were talking about the scandalous way in which some
municipal authorities waste the money of the ratepayers by
quite unnecessary journeys to London. When he was
Secretary to the Treasury a deputation from Sligo came to
him to urge an entirely harmless change. Their wish was
granted immediately, with many regrets that they should
have taken the trouble to come so far about so trifling a
concession, which a couple of letters would have settled.
' You seem to forget,' remarked somebody aside, ' that
to-morrow is Derby Day.' "

The Minister never learned to suffer fools gladly, and he
took public work too seriously to dissemble his contempt for
Members who wasted the time or trifled with the duties
of the House. Thus, while his competence was beyond
dispute, he was not one of the most popular occupants of
the Front Bench. " It is the opinion of some of his friends,"
wrote a London paper in a series of articles on " Coming
Men," " that oflice has not altogether improved Mr. Courtney.
If it is an exaggeration that he has become overpoweringly
official, it is true that the official manner of the Secretary
of the Treasury is not quite all that could be desired. It is
not rude. It is scarcely curt. But it is irritating. It is
not always soothing work to gratify the curiosity of the

* Notes from a Diary, i8g6-igoi, ii. 215.

170 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

noble army of bores, and such a man can have no sympathy
for the small fry who think it is their duty to badger Ministers
with interrogations on every possible topic. But he should
seek to be personally popular."

During the early months of his work at the Treasury the
Financial Secretary enjoyed an unusual degree of independ-
ence, as the Prime Minister himself discharged the functions
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. When the double
burden proved too heavy for advancing years Gladstone
resigned the post, and offered Courtney the Chairmanship
of Committees if the new arrangement was not to his taste.

From W. E. Gladstone

December 8, 1882. — It is now probable that Childers will
almost immediately assume the office of Chancellor of the
Exchequer. I do not expect that this will surprise you, inas-
much as I think you clearly understood on taking your present
office that a Minister of Finance proper would shortly be ap-
pointed. If, however, this change, which has a certain influence
on your position (particularly under an active and skilled
administrator), should incHne you towards quitting it, I am able
to say that I should be happy to propose you, if you should
desire it, as successor to Playfair in his important and difficult
office, which you have shewn an admirable capacity to fill.

Courtney preferred to remain a member of the Ministry.
He was on excellent terms with his chief, who fully appreci-
ated his accurate mind and powers of work.

To his sister Margaret

December 14, 1882. — On Tuesday I dined very pleasantly
in a distinguished locality — St. James's Palace ! Algernon West,
the Chairman of the Inland Revenue Board, has some small
post which gives him rooms there, which Mrs. West declares
were originally the coachman's lodgings. The Prime Minister
was in great force. I sat in the middle of one side between him
and his wife, and the evening passed very gaily.

His friends would not have been surprised by further
promotion at any moment ; but they were confident that
he had only to wait.

vni THE TREASURY BENCH 171

From John Scott

Bombay, December 25, 1882. — In all the recent shif tings of
the Ministries I thought you might have had another translation.
But you have had so many that I must not expect any more
yet. No man is more certain of his future, so your friends
cannot grumble.

In the spring of 1883 the Secretary to the Treasury
received a proposal which proved that his financial abilities
were recognised in the highest quarters.

From Lord Kimherley

May 9, 1883. — Can I induce you to accept the post of Finan-
cial Member of the Indian Government in succession to Major
Baring, who is to succeed Sir E. Malet in Egypt ? No one
would, I feel sure, fill more competently than yourself the very
important office of Finance Minister of our Indian Empire. If
you should be disposed to entertain the offer, there are some
poUtical matters pending in India on which it would be neces-
sary that we should have a clear understanding before the
appointment is made, though I apprehend we should have no
difficulty in agreeing about them. The salary is 76,800 rupees.
Baring's appointment is at present a secret, and, whether you
accept or not, I must request you to be good enough not to
mention the subject till we are ready for a public announcement.
I write with the full concurrence of Mr. Gladstone and Childers.

The salary was high, the task would have been congenial,
and he was on friendly terms with the Viceroy, Lord Ripon.
But he enjoyed his work at the Treasury, and it was generally
agreed that his admission to the Cabinet, to which his office
was the recognised stepping-stone, could not be long delayed.
To leave England at such a time for five years was frankly
impossible ; and he declined the offer with thanks.

Members of a Ministry who are outside the charmed
circle of the Cabinet, though not consulted in the determina-
tion of policy, are expected to support it not only in the
division lobby but in the country ; and if they are unable
to do so, they are counselled to hold their tongue. No one
ever accused the Secretary to the Treasury of disloyalty to

172 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

the Government ; but on his autumn visits to his constitu-
ency he spoke his mind freely on pubHc affairs. The
Liberal party had returned to power in 1880 with high
hopes of useful service and with enthusiastic confidence in
its chief ; but, to the chagrin of reformers, the attention of
the Ministry was distracted by a ceaseless struggle with the
forces of disorder in Ireland and by recurring crises in Egypt
and the Sudan. In regard to the former Courtney had
nothing but approval for the policy of the Government,
both in its repressive and its remedial aspects. He watched
the operation of the Land Act of 1881 with eager interest
and was loud in praise of its results. " It is a monument of
pohtical genius," he declared in 1883. " The longer it is
tried, the more it is appreciated. It is uprooting the cause
of trouble." On his visits to his constituents, whatever
other topic was dominant he never omitted to deal with the
Irish problem. The reform of County Government already
occupied a leading place in his programme, and he con-
tinued to urge its claims on both parties until it was carried
out by Mr. Gerald Balfour. He lost no opportunity of
reiterating his opposition to Home Rule. " We are as
man and wife," he argued ; " we are one, not two." Un-
fortunately Nationahst Ireland did not think so ; and
before very long he was to learn that " the cause of
trouble " was much too deep to be eradicated by the fixing
of judicial rents.

Courtney had strongly supported a poHcy of military
coercion in the Near East with a view to emancipating the
Balkan nationalities who, after obtaining their independence,
were expected to look after themselves. But while thus
approving intervention for a disinterested and strictly
hmited object, he looked with suspicion on any steps that
might lead to the annexation of foreign territory or to
the further increase of British responsibiUties. If British
subjects chose to lend their money at high interest to an
extravagant oriental potentate, they must bear the con-
sequences and not expect the British Empire to pull the
chestnuts out of the fire for them. Turkey, he beHeved,
ought to be broken up as quickly as possible, and its com-

vni THE TREASURY BENCH 173

ponent parts should then govern themselves. For this
reason he had disapproved the deposition of the Khedive
Ismail in 1879 by his suzerain at the instigation of England
and France. They had recognised and thereby increased
the power of the Sultan. Why could they not have left
the Egyptians alone and allowed them to stew in their own
juice ? The deposition of Ismail, whether right or wrong,
brought no more than temporary relief to the situation ;
for his son and successor Tewfik was too weak to cope with
the rising nationaUst discontent which found a leader in
Arabi. France was no less interested in the peace and
solvency of Egypt than Great Britain ; but Gambetta, who
was eager to co-operate in necessary measures of coercion,
was succeeded by the less adventurous Freycinet, who
desired to confine French action to a defence of the Suez
Canal. Even this limited risk was not to the taste of the
French Chamber, and in the summer of 1882 Great Britain
intervened alone. The Prime Minister was no enthusiast
for his own poUcy, and not a few of his followers in Parha-
ment and in the Press were either lukewarm supporters or
avowed opponents.

To Miss Potter

July 12, 1882. — I am much dissatisfied with Egypt, and not
at all easy about my position. There was a short discussion
this afternoon when Lawson spoke, but it came to nothing.

July 20. — The Prime Minister has announced his intention
of asking for a vote of credit on Monday, in other words for
money to support some kind of intervention in Egypt. This is
not the worst that could have happened, as it would have been
intolerable if the Sultan had been brought in to resume a direct
authority. It is better that we should undertake the task than
leave it to the Pashas from Constantinople ; but the outlook
is very dark. I am more and more drawn to the conclusion
that we ought to have allowed the Khedive and Arabi to settle
their relative power among themselves, simply taking care of
the Canal as a great international highway. I do not say there
are not excuses or even justification for what we have done ;
only I feel the wiser course is the one I have pointed out. Since
I saw you Mr. Bright has left the Ministry, but you know his
views are not mine. He objects to aU war as wicked. I think

174 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

wars are sometimes just and necessary. His defection will set
a few members talking who have hitherto been silent, but the
criticism of the Government poUcy in the House of Commons
is very feeble. I am told that all the newspapers which are
specially read by artisans in London joined last week in condemn-
ing the bombardment of Alexandria. My friend Scott, like
most of them from Egypt, incHnes to the opinion that we ought
to have taken action earlier.

July 22. — I have had a long talk with John Morley. He
is of my opinion in condemning altogether the policy we have
pursued and is very uncomfortable about it ; but he thinks
there is nothing to be done just now but to insist, as far as we
can, agcdnst any schemes of occupation and annexation.

September 19, 1882, Berlin. — It was in Moscow that I read
the telegraphic announcement of the complete defeat of Arabi ;
and now I hear that the luckless man is a prisoner of war and
that Wolseley is at Cairo. The Ministers in Cabinet Council
may well have cheered at the result ; and I hope now the struggle
is over they will be wise enough not to accept the government
of the country nor to bind themselves permanently to the
Khedive. We shall have done all we are in honour bound to
do if, after freeing him, we give him a fair chance. No doubt
the issue of the expedition will render the Government stronger,
at least for a time. Did you hear of that cynical mot of Sir
WiUiam Harcourt ? "At last we have done a popular thing ;
we have bombarded Alexandria."

On returning from Russia Courtney hurried down to
Cornwall and delivered an address at Torpoint. The
Government, he declared, were justified in suppressing
Arabi, who was no true representative of Egyptian nation-
ality and was endeavouring to establish a military tyranny.
We should, however, be culpable if, after overthrowing this
tyranny, we did not respect national feeling and allow
Egypt to govern herself. Not government by Turkey, or
Arabi, or the Powers, but Egypt for the Egyptians was the
policy to pursue. The Prime Minister rightly desired to
co-operate with Europe in placing the country imder a
European guarantee, supplying it with representative
institutions and then leaving it to work out its own salva-
tion. We should tell Tewfik that he must not expect to
be rescued a second time from domestic opposition, for we

vin THE TREASURY BENCH 175

could never consent to uphold a ruler against the will of
his people. We should look after the Canal, make a ring
round Egj^t so that no other Power should interfere in
its domestic politics, and let the inhabitants of the Nile
Valley stew in their own juice. To the surprise of the
world we had withdrawn from Abyssinia after the war of
1868 without annexations. If we now withdrew from
Egypt, after setting up a free Government, we should not
have intervened in vain. Now was the time to show that
England wished to promote the freedom of other countries
and had no desire to annex a yard of territory. The proof
of our disinterestedness would be completed if the cost of
the war were to be met as far as possible by the bond-
holders instead of by the fellaheen.

The speech, with its clear-cut policy and its vigorous
phrasing, was widely reported and eagerly discussed during
the autumn recess. Chamberlain wrote to congratulate him
on his frankness. Lord Sahsbury referred to him as a dis-
tinguished man who stood on the threshold of the Cabinet,
and Lord Granville echoed that he was undoubtedly a man
of great knowledge and great ability. Sir Wilfrid Lawson,
who had offered uncompromising opposition to intervention,
broke into the vigorous doggerel of which he was the
acknowledged master.

OUR POLICY WAS TO MAKE A RING ROUND EGYPT
{Vide Courtney's Speech at Plymouth)

At last we hear from Courtney's lips

The Governmental plan.
Mysterious are all thy ways.

Thou wondrous Grand Old Man !

Let quidnuncs talk of what they please —

This, that, and t'other thing —
The wisest course the statesman sees

It is, to make a ring.

That ring must be composed of all

The bravest and the best,
Bring Baker Pasha from the East

And Wolseley from the West.

176 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Bring Sepoys from the Indian plains.

Bring Scots from moor and fell.
Bring Royal Dukes from Windsor towers

And Guardsmen from Pall Mall.

We fought like heroes all men knew.

Hurled death from all our triggers.
Retrieved the status ante quo

And killed five thousand niggers.

That traitor Arabi we nailed —

Loud every steeple clanged —
And though all evidence has failed

We mean to have him hanged.

The whip's at work, the gaols axe full.

The bastinado too ;
Thank God the coupons though are paid

Whenever they fall due.

On his next visit to his constituents early in the follow-
ing year the Minister reiterated his policy and replied to
his critics. His phrase " stewing in their own juice " had
been quoted and reprobated ; but its author was Bismarck,
and its meaning was that the Egyptians should govern
themselves and that we should limit our commitments by
setting up a power that could take care of itself. The advice
he had tendered at Torpoint had been followed. There
was no thought of restoring the power of the Sultan. The
Canal was to be open to ships of war, but no military
operations were to be allowed in its waters. Lord Dufferin
had drawn up a scheme for the representation of the people
which would serve very well as a first step. We had now
done enough both for the Khedive and the bondholders and
must resist further temptation. " I am told that England
cannot tolerate anarchy in Eg5rpt. Why not ? We tolerate
it in Mexico and other parts of the world. This notion that
we must go anywhere to prevent anarchy must be fought
against, for when we go to prevent anarchy we create it.
The whole excuse of many of our conquests has been anarchy
requiring intervention, and the excuse for maintaining them
is that anarchy must follow our withdrawal. I hope there
are still some few of us left in England who believe in the

viii THE TREASURY BENCH 177

old-fashioned doctrine of the Liberal party, the doctrine
of non-intervention. We should not interfere unless a short
and swift intervention would remove the cause of the
disease, which being removed, the country would be left
to take care of itself again. And that is the defence of our
intervention in Egypt."

The views of the Secretary of the Treasury were shared
by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, who deplored
the Egyptian entanglement and honestly desired to escape
from its meshes. But though the bondholders had few
friends among the British democracy, the Cabinet could
not leave them to sink or swim ; and the promise to with-
draw was contingent on the restoration of order and stable
government. Sir Evel5m Baring's task proved to require
more time than had been expected ; and long before it was
accompHshed a school of thought became dominant in
Great Britain which repudiated the doctrine of non-interven-
tion and evacuation, and plunged boldly into the game of
Weltpolitik with its prizes and its risks.

N

CHAPTER IX

MARRIAGE

On March 15, 1883, Courtney was married to Miss Kate
Potter. Though his work for the Times had brought him
a good salary, there was no considerable surplus available
after meeting the needs of his family ; and by the time he
crossed the threshold of middle age he had resigned himself
to a bachelor existence. His Ufe was filled with congenial
occupation, and he possessed not only devoted brothers
and sisters but a wide circle of friends. Under these
circimastances it was natural that a considerable period
should elapse between the first meeting with his future
wife and the dawning conviction that his happiness was in
her keeping.

From her childhood Miss Potter had enjoyed the privilege
of mixing in the wide world of society and poHtics. Her
father was a Manchester man, the son of the first Member for
Wigan in the Reformed Parliament.^ Turning in early life
from law to business Richard Potter joined the leading firm of
timber-merchants in Gloucester. When the news of the
sufferings of the allied armies m the Crimea reached England
he proposed that they should be provided with wooden
huts, which he and his partner Price were ready to supply.
The plan was approved not only by the British Government
but by Napoleon III., who sent for him and gave him an
order on the spot. The flourishing firm established branches
in Grimsby and Barrow ; but timber was only one depart-

"^ See Georgina Meinertzhagen, From Ploughshare to Parliament,
chap. XV.

178

CHAP. IX MARRIAGE lyg

ment of Potter's business activities. He was at different
times a Director and later Chairman of the Great Western
Railwaj^ a President of the Grand Trunk Railway of
Canada, and a Director of the Hudson's Bay Company.
While Price was a Liberal Member of Parliament, Potter,
who began as a Liberal, had become a Peelite ; and though
his support of Free Trade drove him for a time mto the
Liberal camp, he returned to the Conservative party when
the danger of Protection was removed. He stood for
Gloucester in 1862, but was beaten by 28. Though he
distrusted Disraeli scarcely less than Gladstone he was an
active worker and speaker for the Conservative cause in
Gloucestershire till he was stricken with paralysis in 1885.

In 1844 Richard Potter married a Miss Heyworth of
Liverpool, a clever girl with keen intellectual tastes. Their
only son died in infancy, but nine daughters were bom and
grew to womanhood. At Standish House, near Stroud,
and in London, where their hospitable parents often took a
house for the season, the girls enjoyed unusual opportunities
of meeting interesting people. Herbert Spencer, a friend
of Richard Potter from boyhood, was a frequent guest, and
men were glad to accept invitations to the lively house-
parties. Thus all the daughters married, and several of
them became the partners of men who achieved distinction
in pubUc life.

In the autumn of 1875 Kate, the second daughter, after
the unprofitable excitements of a series of London seasons,
resolved to help Octavia Hill in her self-imposed task of
reformatory rent-collector in Whitechapel. " Miss Potter
has been staying here," wrote Miss Hill to her friend Samuel
Barnett, vicar of St. Jude's. " She is very bright and
happy, extremely capable, and has been through a good
deal in her Ufe, though she is young. She seems to fit in
among us very well." ^ In 1878 the vicar reported on her
work : " The common lodgings and nightly lodging-houses
which abound in this parish are filled with people of the
lowest description, who, herded together, are beyond the
reach of any influence. Fourteen of these houses have

1 C. E. Maurice, Life of Octavia Hill, p. 339.

i8o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

this year come into possession of a friend of Miss Octavia
Hill. It was delightful to enter the places of which one
had such sad memories, to order the removal of dirt, the
renovation of the broken doors and plaster, the admission
of light through new windows. It is more deUghtful to
know that in these houses respectable people are now
living, visited weekly by a lady who is not only the rent-
collector but a friend to help by wise counsel in time of need,
and with sympathy for them as creatures capable of the
fullest life." " For eight years," adds Mrs. Bamett, " Miss
Potter worked with us, bringing in her wake hosts of friends,
as well as two sisters. Miss Potter's friends were not of
the ' goody ' sort, but were people holding the world's
plums, of wealth, high social position, and posts of national
responsibility ; yet she brought them all to tender their
meed of service to the poor, and compelled them to face
conditions usually hidden from the comfortable." ^

After pitching her tent in Great College Street, West-
minster, in 1877, Miss Potter was at home to her friends on
Tuesdays ; and as her rooms were within a stone's throw of
the Houses of Parliament Members often dropped in during
the session. As a girl she had naturally imbibed the
conservatism of her parents ; but Whitechapel had con-
vinced her that the iUs of the body politic required a more
drastic surgery, and her political friends were mainly chosen
from the Liberal camp. Among them was Joseph Chamber-
lain, who could always find time to write chatty letter?.
Her Journal in 1879 records : " Mr. Leonard Courtney also
one of my visitors in Great College Street." A note added
in 1910 comments on the beginning of their friendship :
" We met first some year or so before at dinner at the
Crackanthorpes', and I was told he was an important man on
the Times ; but I don't remember much about that meeting.
Then about 1878 came one of those interesting evening
parties at the Tennants' in Richmond Terrace, famous for
the two beautiful daughters, Dolly and Eveljn — subjects
of MiUais's famous pictures ' Yes or No ' and ' Blue Beads/
and famous for a collection of great or at any rate known

^ Life of Canon Barneit, i. 106.

IX MARRIAGE l8i

men and women. Huxley was talking to me and denoun-
cing a manifesto in the Times of that morning or± Beacons-
j&eld's Afghan policy or some such question — denouncing it
with great vigour of language. When he had expended
his eloquence, a voice at my elbow remarked quietly, ' That's
a pity, for I wrote it,' and there was Leonard Courtney.
I burst into irresistible and I fear rather noisy laughter,
and Huxley said, ' A weak man would retreat, but I won't,'
and the incident ended in good temper. But Leonard got
introduced to me that evening. He said afterwards the
honest laugh struck him, and soon after he called."

The stages of the friendship are marked by the entries
which recur with growing frequency in the Journal.

Easter, 1880. — Return to London (from a winter in Egypt
with the Barnetts and Herbert Spencer) to work and am pressed
into taking a sort of superintendence of all the Whitechapel
Houses. The Barnetts came back warmer friends than ever.
Meet Leonard Courtney in Queen's Gate looking radiant after
his election and the great Liberal victory. He dines with us
and I like him better than ever.

Dance at Prince's Gardens. Henry Hobhouse comes at my
invitation and is introduced to Maggie. Sudden fancy, and
after a week or two they are engaged. We all like him. Picnic
on the river, H. Hobhouse, Daveys and L. Courtney (a long
happy day with him).

October. — I return to Great College Street and find to my
dismay that the drains are suspected. A good-bye visit from
L. Courtney.

Miss Potter moved to a larger house close by at 26
Grosvenor Road, which her father took for her, and con-
tinued her Tuesday gatherings.

January 188 1. — Mr. Rathbone and L. C. came to tea, and I
meet the latter soon after at dinner at the Tennants',

An invitation to the new Minister to spend the short
Easter recess at Standish marked a new milestone on the
road to intimacy, and was accepted with pleasure.

i82 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To Miss Potter

15 Queen Anne's Gate,
April 4, 1 88 1.

My dear Miss Potter — Your invitation is very enticing,
so that I cannot say no to it all at once. Indeed if I can I wiU
act yes. Will you tell me within what days you propose to be
at Standish, so that I may arrange to join your party if it prove
possible ? — Yours very faithfully, Leonard Courtney.

The visit was a great success and brought the friends
nearer together.

Journal

Easter, 1881. — My party at Standish. Mr. Spencer, L. C. and
others. What a happy week it was ! One of the pleasantest bits
of social enjoyment I have ever had and just tinged towards the
end with something a Httle stronger than social feeUng. I was
a bit anxious as to how my friends would get on together, and
whether one of them would not be bored by a whole week in
the country. But all went charmingly. L. C. evidently enjoyed
his visit to my great deHght. What walks we had altogether
through the woods ; and one last one I had alone with L. C.

The visit gave no less pleasure to the guest.

To his sister Margaret

Standish House, Stonehouse, April 20, 188 1. — Herbert
Spencer came by the same train. There is plenty of room.
The country is very beautiful. We are on the slope of a hiU
overlooking the valley of the Severn, the river itself looking hke
a bright cloud on the horizon. A great plain Ues between us
and the river, full of meadows and orchards. There are hills
all about, which, however, are for the most part the edges of
the higher table-land below which he the Severn valley and
its tributary valleys. Villages are numerous ; the houses mostly
stone built (Bath stone) and with many good architectural
traditions, so that they are at once substantial and pleasant to
look upon. We are enjoying ourselves very much. After break-
fast I am allowed to retreat to the study to write, read news-
papers or work, for I have a few papers with me. In the after-
noon walks or drives. In the evening much talk. A httle
music now and then. Herbert Spencer is, as you know, one of
the most opinionative and argumentative of men, but we have
not had, and are not likely to have, any coUisions.

jx MARRIAGE 183

A month later Miss Potter enjoyed a visit to the Private
View of the Academy with Herbert Spencer and Leonard
Courtney.

Journal

The Grosvener Gallery next day with L. C. and tea at the
Albemarle afterwards. A very happy summer follows. Many
meetings at little parties and picnics with L. C, and I get to
count more and more on my friend, though without looking for
any very definite result from my friendship. I am deUghted to get
an invitation to dine with him and his sisters at the Albemarle.
I sit between him and Mr. John Morley, with whom I am much
taken. Mr. Spencer's picnic at St. George's HiU, — the Huxleys,
Hookers and others, and my friend in a white suit ! The day
before I leave London L. C. makes me very happy by coming
to tell me of his approaching appointment to the Colonial Office.
I cannot find many words to congratulate him, but there is some
silent feehng as we part.

A visit to the Ladies' Gallery proved less delectable
than had been expected, for the principal attraction was
lacking.

To Miss Potter

July 27, 1881.

My dear Miss Potter — You need not have been disappointed
on Monday. The debate was very good and there was no
necessity for my speaking. I was disappointed last night. I
dined at the Rathbones' and you were not there, which was very
vexatious, especially as there was an empty chair on my left.
I beUeve you dined there last Friday, when also I was invited
but could not go. What cross purposes ! — I am reluctant to
say good-bye, Leonard Courtney.

That such a friendship must either terminate or march
forward to its appointed goal was now becoming obvious
to both parties, and Courtney began to draw back.

Journal

November and December. — Rather sad and dreary time in
London. My friend comes not to see me and even appears to
avoid natural opportunities of doing so. I get more and more
perplexed and troubled. At last I come to the conclusion that

i84 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

something has interfered with his friendship for me, and I must
give up thinking of it if my health and work are not to suffer.
I go down to Standish resolved to get over it.

Christinas, Standish. — ^A very pleasant family party. How
we teased Mr. Spencer into kissing Beatrice under a bit of mistle-
toe and put a fool's cap out of a cracker on his philosophical
head ! I forgot my own troubles for the time, and came back
to London ready to face the world and work again. But this
mood did not last long.

January 1882. — ^A talk with Mrs. Bamett about L. C. She
asks me to meet him at dinner on January 30. I cannot resist.
We talk together a Uttle looking at a sketch of Israels', when we
arrange to see his pictures together the next day. How I enjoy
that morning with my friend over those pathetic pictures, and
then we walk home together as far as Downing Street. I feel
that he Ukes me, but feel also that there are difficulties in his
own mind, and I recognise that my own feeHngs are so much
engaged that the only thing to do is to wait patiently for the
solution which time may bring, and meanwhile to enjoy his
friendship.

So things went on till the opening of the Whitechapel Exhibi-
tion on April 4 (my birthday), where I heard him speak for the
first time. It was a solemn speech for the opening of an art
exhibition, and it impressed me much, with its earnest questions
as to the aims and objects and future of man's hfe.

A few days later Miss Potter's mother died, and in the
following month she asked her friend to visit her.

From Miss Potter

May 16, 1882. — If you could spare half an hour between this
and next Saturday, when I go down to Standish for ten days,
I should so Uke to see you. When one has gone through some
great event which creates in one a whole world of new thoughts
and feeHngs one seems to want one's friends more than ever to
help one to solve the problems and put things in their right
places and proportions. From those few words you said at
the Whitechapel Exhibition you must have thought much about
that great mystery of death which has now come so near to us.
I wonder whether people ever do reaUse death in the least till
it comes to them personally, and then leaves them gazing blankly
into a great cloud of darkness ; and then how astonishingly quickly
life reasserts itself and one throws oneself into its interests. I

IX MARRIAGE 185

am thinking of other things already, and among them your
recent change of position ^ has interested me much. I suppose
I ought to congratulate you, but I am not sure ! You will not
now feel as if you were ruhng the Empire ; but perhaps that
had gone on long enough and you were getting too " Imperial "
in tendency.

To Miss Potter

May 17.

My dear Miss Potter — If you will be at home to-morrow
evening at six I will come and see you. I was much distressed
at the end of Easter week to read of the great blow that had
fallen upon you. I could not help thinking of the same time
last year when we had spent such happy days at Standish. We
may and must forget the distress of separation, but we need not
forget those that have left us. I hope that you are returning
to your work again. When I heard of your loss my first, or
nearly my first thought was a hope that you would not have to
give up the work to which you have set yourself. — I remain, my
dear Miss Potter, always yours faithfully,

Leonard Courtney.

When the friends met on May 18 the reserve that for
many a dreary month had set a seal on their lips melted
away. The discovery was a joyful surprise to both, for
neither had sounded the depth of the affection which filled
the other's heart. " I learned long since that life is subject
to severe conditions." wrote Leonard Courtney the same
evening, " and I discovered that for me I must live and die
alone. Friendship I could enjoy, and some dear friends
I have had ; but beyond this I could not hope." The
new relationship had come so suddenly and indeed so
unexpectedly that they resolved to keep it secret except
from some of the sisters till they had time to reflect how
soon they could afford to marry. A few days later Miss
Potter left for Standish, and the Minister set off on his usual
Whitsun jaunt to Paris.

1 His appointment as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

186 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To Miss Potter

Paris, May 30.
My dear Kate — My visit here will be shorter than usual,
and it has had a vein of thought running through it of a novel
character. We crossed in lovely weather. Mr. Lionel Robinson,
who knows nearly everybody, has taken me this evening to
dine with M. Lockroy and M. Naquet, two of the advanced
Radicals in the Chamber. These deputies talked more reason-
ably than I had expected, but I doubt whether France will
soon be fairly settled. This wretched Egyptian business dis-
turbs them, and in the worst form, for it excites their worst
vices of covetousness and vanity. But you must not think I
have been occupied with poUtics. I have not seen an EngHsh
paper since Saturday, and my principal occupation has been
seeing pictures. Now I must say good-bye, but not for long.
I hope I shall find my friend very happy.

From Miss Potter

June 7.

Dearest Friend — Sunday is such a long way off that I
must write you a httle Une between ; only you must not. answer
it if you are busy. I suppose being Wednesday you will be
dining out and seeing lots of people. For one reason and only
one I am sorry not to have been going out this summer, and
that is that I should Hke to see whether you look the same to
me as you used to do in society. I should not mind your talking
to any one else as much as you liked, because I should know
that sometimes I had nicer talks than they ever had.

An idea has been running through my head, — a very low
idea, for it is connected with public-houses and beer. I believe
that the blood-poisoning stuff that is put into it is responsible
for the worst part of the drunkenness and violence in London.
Why should not an act be passed against adulteration ? And I
wonder whether it would be possible to take a public-house in
some low street and sell good beer and manage it efficiently.
Some of these days I think I shall go to one of the great brewers
who are so fond of subscribing to charities and ask them to put
me into one of their pubhc-houses and see if I can't make it pay.
The teetotallers are too narrow to take the whole world in. I
am not sure that better pubhc-houses would not do something
to aUay the drink fiend. Would you mind seeing my name up
over a beer shop in Whitechapel ? — Your affectionate friend,

Kate Potter
(Licensed to sell beer and spirits).

a MARRIAGE 187

To Miss Potter

June 9.

Dearest Kate — Your imagination amuses me, pursuing me
to evening parties ; but I was not at a party on Wednesday.
I had an invitation to Mrs. Jacob Bright 's ; but I took my
sisters to hear Tannhduser at the German Opera, I am much
in favour of the Gothenburg system of public-house licensing
which would secure most, if not all, you aim at. When I was
at Gothenburg three years ago I made many inquiries and thought
it had done good and could here. Chamberlain, as you know,
took up the plan before he came into the House and proposed
it in his first session, but has dropped it — more's the pity. We
shall hear of it again.

At the end of the session the engagement was made
public, and Miss Potter's choice was ratified by her father
and sisters.

Front Mrs. Meinertzhagen

August 29. — I believe Kate has every prospect of happi-
ness before her, and I need not say that we all think she
deserves it. I cannot think how she has escaped matrimony
so long. I hope very much that you will Hke your new
relations as well as they are prepared to Uke you. You will
find some crotchety old Tories amongst them whom you may
influence a little towards the right way of thinking. You must
be quite prepared to be taken possession of by our large family.
Any new member is drawn into it with wonderful rapidity,
and in your case we shall not be a little proud of our new
connection.

The tidings were welcomed with equal pleasure by such
members of the Courtney family as had not already heard
of it and by the friends of both parties.

From Herbert Spencer

December 3, 1882. — The contents of your note gave me much
satisfaction. I should think it but rarely happens that in such
relations there is found greater community of thought and
feeling and general aims than exists between you and Mr.

i88 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Courtney. I augur well, too, from the long-continued intimacy
which has given each so good an opportunity of knowing the
other. I wish you all the happiness you so well deserve, and
see no reason to doubt that you will have it.

From John Morley

October 23. — I always think it half impertinent to offer
happy people congratulations. But you know with what real
pleasure and confident good wishes I heard of this great venture
of a friend whom I have long held in such affectionate regard.
It is the great venture after all, but you have both left Httle
to chance, if the union of good and proved characters means
certainty of happiness. This is rather solemn phrasing, but
marriage is not altogether without solemnity after all. Anyhow
I wish you aU good things — both of you — and hope that you
will admit his friends to a share of cordial friendship with his
new companion.

From Joseph Chamberlain [to L. H. Courtney)

October 18. — Morley has just been here who told me of your
engagement. Will you allow me most heartily and sincerely
to congratulate you — first on the event and above all on your
choice ? My acquaintance with Miss Potter has only been a
short one, but I like her so much that I hope I may know and
like her more as your wife. When does the marriage come off ?

A few days after the announcement of the engagement
the Minister sailed from Hull to St. Petersburg, in pursuit
of a long-cherished desire to see something of Russia.

To Miss Potter

St. Petersburg, September 3. — I arrived here yesterday
and went to the Embassy for letters. I found one from the
Prime Minister. It was very characteristic. It was meant
to suggest (perhaps a reproof) that I had gone rather far away
and should at least keep myself within range of post and tele-
graph. He adds in a postscript, " I do not write with the desire
of moving anything from my shoulders to yours, but from a
sense of the great value of your judgment and co-operation in
affairs." I am going to write him to say that I always intended

IX MARRIAGE 189

to be back in England by the end of September and could return
at any time in four days. The absurdity of the letter is that
my judgment, however valuable, is never called into account
in anything of pressing importance.

The great attraction of the capital was the Hermitage,
where the traveller rejoiced in the Rembrandts and Van-
dykes ; and he was interested to see the Tsar and Tsarina
returning from the festival of St. Alexander Nevski, and to
hear them loudly cheered in the streets.

To Miss Potter

Berlin, September 19. — I was extremely interested in
Moscow. The situation of the Kremlin is very fine and the
buildings in it make a striking ensemble, yet they have in-
dividually no beauty. The most bizarre of all the churches
was called by Napoleon a mosque. I was reminded in parts
of the town of Lucknow, where the architecture which Akbar
and the Persians brought to Delhi and Agra came into contact
with the native architecture of India and produced a mongrel
style without the merits of either. I went twice to the Exhibi-
tion, where several rooms were full of pictures by Russian artists
of to-day. Verestchagin was not represented by any of his
great pictures, and I understood he is out of favour because
he shows the ugly side of war.

As the marriage was fixed for the following Easter, it
was necessary to find a home. House-hunting proved less
of a torment than usual, and a pretty, old red-brick mansion
in Che)me Walk, with a view across the river and a pleasant
garden behind, exactly met their wishes in respect of size,
rent and situation. " I think it was a November afternoon
when we happened on it," wrote Lady Courtney thirty-six
years later, " in one of our Saturday walks during our
engagement — exploring walks, to see where we should live.
I had thought we might have started in the bright little
modem house in Grosvenor Road, with a river view of its
own too — a house I had taken on a twenty-one year lease,
thinking I should never marry. Two friends shared it with
me as my tenants. But no ! ' Very nice, but it was not
for him.' His lodgings had always been in some old house.

190 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

So we turned to Chelsea and Cheyne Walk. We had
indeed been over No. 26, with a very large garden, but we
doubted about it. Then we saw the board up at No. 15,
and the fine iron gate at once attracted him. When the
door opened the good spacious staircase settled the question.
' This is our house/ he said. I suggested that rooms were
important and must be carefully considered, as we could
not live on the staircase. But he was sure that staircase
implied the main quahties we wanted ; and on the whole
it did. To be sure the present pantry was a coal hole ;
the panelled rooms were all covered with canvas and paper
and the floors sloped about unevenly. But there was an
air about it, an air of dignity, of repose, of welcome.
Leonard felt a house, was very sensitive to its atmosphere,
and he loved this one. We took it and set about alterations,
stripping the drawing-room of its canvas and paper and
restoring the old panelling and putting up a beautiful
overmantel. And then the furnishing began and all the
planning where his beloved pictures, prints and blue china
should go. How we enjoyed it ! It was practically aU
his. My share was the useful commonplace things. Some
years after we built out the dining-room and merged part
of the old room into the smaU hbrary, thus getting two
large and beautiful rooms on the ground floor. Later still
my husband planned and carried out one or two ideas he
had for the front of the house which gave him great pleasure.
First came a fountain in the httle front garden which was
and is a great joy to our small neighbours, rich and poor.
We began with gold fish, but that was too great a tempta-
tion and we had to give them up. Then came the sundial
— an old one fixed on the front of the house. The motto
on it was his choice — ' Lead, kindly light.' But his biggest
venture was the two pairs of sculptured heads — Sir Thomas
More and Erasmus on one panel, Carlyle and Mazzini on
the other."

Most of the Ministers gave presents to their colleague,
and 112 Members of the House of Commons, subscribing a
guinea each, presented a grand piano, a pair of lamps and
a tea-urn. Among the presents to the bride was an offering

IX MARRIAGE 191

from her East-end tenants. The marriage took place at
St. Jude's, Whitechapel, and William Courtney supported
his brother as best man. The address was delivered by
Samuel Bamett.

Journal

March 15, 1883. — Our marriage. The church crowded with
poor people, to most of whom I was known and many of whom
I knew. Breakfast in St. Jude's Schools with a hundred of my
poor people and about forty others — all my sisters and their
husbands, Margaret, Louise and William Courtney, Mr. Spencer,
the John Morleys, Mr. Roby, and of course the dear Barnetts.

" March 15," wrote the Vicar after the ceremony, " will
be long remembered by the many who on that day followed
their friend with kindly thoughts into her new life, and
shared the first meal which she took with her husband.
We shall not forget her, and she, I know, will not forget
us." " No, indeed," adds Mrs. Bamett, " that wedding is
not forgotten — the dignified happiness of the bridegroom,
the beauty of the bride's gown, the palms and the flowers
in the church, the Vicar's address, the height of the Bus-
zard's cake, how Mr. Herbert Spencer behaved during the
service, why Mr. John Morley looked so grave, the ladies'
dresses, the number of carriages, the dainty breakfast
served in the big schoolroom, all so carefully arranged that
without fuss or patronage the coster sat side by side with
the Member of Parliament, and the overworked mother
enjoyed the food she had not cooked, while she talked and
listened to the ' quality ' who had handed her to her seat.
Was it bizarre, forced and fanciful ? No ! for all the guests,
however far apart in mental and social degree, were united
by their love and respect for the bride." ^

The honeymoon, severely limited by the Easter recess,
was spent at Longfords, the Gloucestershire home of a
sister of the bride, and in Devon, and on their return the
couple settled at 15 Cheyne Walk, where they were destined
to spend thirty-five years together. Whitsuntide was spent
in Paris, and in June Courtney took his wife to Cambridge

^ Life of Canon Bamett, i. 107.

192 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.ix

and showed her his old haunts in St. John's, including
the Fellows' Garden, of which he always kept the key. It
was a busy season for the bride. " Everybody asks us to
dinner," she records in her Journal, " and I go to many
large receptions and am introduced to more people than I
can remember." After the rising of ParUament in August
they had a quiet fortnight to themselves in London, where
the Minister finished up his Treasury work, followed by
visits to Standish, " bright, sunny and cheerful, Mr. Spencer
and bowls," and Hadspen (the home of Henry Hobhouse)
" where L. sees churches to his heart's content, including
Wells and Glastonbury," Entering Cornwall from Bideford
they journeyed south through Bude, Boscastle and Tintagel
to Penzance and Liskeard. In the course of the autumn
they paid short visits to George Trevelyan at the Chief
Secretary's Lodge in Phoenix Park, and to Joseph Chamber-
lain at Highbury. Each of the partners was rich in friends,
and their combined forces made a formidable host. Chelsea
was within a walk of Westminster, and among the Members
who most frequently came from the House to dinner was
Henry Fawcett. " I get to know and Uke him," wrote the
bride in her Journal. " His personality is soon impressed
on one — strong clear views, thorough enjo5mient of social
life, very genial to all, and with loud, cheery voice." But
from March 15, 1883, the story of Leonard Courtney's
life is a record of common triumphs and common trials,
sweetened by loving comradeship and fortified by perfect
understanding.

CHAPTER X

RESIGNATION

The principal measure of the session of 1884 — and indeed
of the Parliament of 1880 — was the Franchise Bill. Its
chief feature, the concession of the vote to the agricultural
labourer, formed part of the Liberal programme at the
General Election ; but Courtney was more interested in
the enfranchisement of women and the representation of
minorities. On both issues he came into collision with the
Cabinet, and on one of them the difference proved too
profound for compromise.

The discussion which was to continue without interrup-
tion for over a year opened in the autumn of 1883. " Many
meetings and speeches," wrote Mrs. Courtney in her Journal
in describing her first visit to Liskeard. " L. devotes much
of his time to Proportional Representation." In answer to
Bright, who had spoken disdainfully of " fads," the Minister
appealed to the authority of Mill and Cairnes, Dilke and
Fawcett, and argued that his scheme alone secured the
principle of "One vote, one value," which Liberals demanded.
With equal warmth he pleaded that the opportunity should
be seized of enfranchising women, thus obtaining a reflection
of the mind of every section of the community. He added
that as the Franchise Bill would be the crowning achieve-
ment of the Parliament and should be quickly followed by
a General Election, it might well wait for another year.
His speeches aroused a good deal of interest in the political
world. The Pall Mall Gazette, which had recently passed
from the hands of Mr. Morley into those of W. T. Stead,

193 o

194 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

published a leader entitled " Mr. Courtney contra mundum."
After confessing that there was no pubHc man of equal
standing who spoke less or said more than the Secretary
to the Treasury, the Pall Mall proceeded to denounce
Proportional Representation and to warn the Liberal party
against postponement of the Bill. A frank and not wholly
unexpected remonstrance followed from Birmingham.

From Joseph Chamberlain [to Mrs. Courtney)

October 31, 1883. — I shall be in London on the 8th and shall
be delighted to dine with you that evening. I am sorry your
husband was so outspoken the other day. Perhaps he is right
in his opinions — ^in any case we shall not quarrel because we
differ ; but I should have been glad if he had reserved himself
and not committed himself so far ahead. Public opinion (and
I think also the decision of the Government) is going against
him, and under these circumstances it would be good policy to
keep perfect freedom of action, which is more or less hampered
by strong expressions of personal predilection. Look at Goschen,
for instance. His speech on County Franchise was really an
unnecessary bravado and almost an affectation of courage. It
has left him stranded on the political beach, and I doubt if,
with all his ability, he will ever come to the front again. You
know I do not err myself on the side of reticence, and I should
not counsel a friend to hold his tongue merely to save his skin ;
but I admire so heartily your husband's powers and am so
desirous of working loyally with him that I am anxious that he
should not unnecessarily emphasise the differences which separate
us. Here is what a mutual friend writes me — you will guess
his name. " What a pity that Courtney should never see more
of the great tide of democracy than can be got up into a table-
spoon at Liskeard ! " Pray thank him for his kind reference
to myself, I know that neither you nor he will mind my frank
remonstrance.

The protest was renewed ten days later by word of
mouth.

Journal

November 8. — Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Morley dine with us and
chaff L. about his criticism of the Government. Mr. C. evidently
fears it will come to a split. He will never consent to P. R.

X RESIGNATION 195

The astute Radical commander, who envisaged the
forthcoming Bill as a pawn on the pohtical chess-board, was
already laying his plans for the General Election, and
impatiently brushed aside any proposals which did not seem
calculated to contribute to the victory. A month later
Courtney and his wife spent a week-end at Highbury, where
the host " shadowed out the agitation on the Franchise as
the card to play which would give the Liberals a majority
at the next election." Chamberlain's open antagonism
convinced the friends of Proportional Representation that
they must organise their forces. On January 16, 1884, the
Proportional Representation Society was founded, and at
the first General Meeting on March 5 Sir John Lubbock
was elected President.^ The members were drawn im-
partially from both parties, and Mr. Arthur Balfour's
adhesion gave special satisfaction.

The Franchise Bill was introduced on February 28, and
the issue of woman suffrage was raised at the outset. As a
declared champion of the principle Courtney refused to vote
against it simply because he was a Minister and because
the Chief Whip feared a close division. His attitude, how-
ever, raised a wider issue than the casting of a single vote ;
and Sir Charles Dilke ^ wrote to the Prime Minister from
the South of France explaining his position.

Sir C. Dilke to Mr. Gladstone

Easter Eve, 1884. — I should feel no difficulty in voting
against the amendment on the ground of tactics which would
be stated, provided that Fawcett and Courtney, who are the
only thick-and-thin supporters of woman's suffrage in the
Government, voted also ; but I cannot vote if they abstain.

Gladstone repUed that to add the novel and controversial
issue of woman's suffrage to the agreed principles of an
Agricultural Labourers' Franchise Bill was unwise, and
would give the House of Lords an admirable pretext for
postponing or rejecting the measure. Sir Charles, as the

^ Hutchinson, Life of Sir John Lttbbock, i. 201-10.
* Dilke' s Life, ii. 6-9.

196 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

only convinced supporter in the Cabinet, was in a position
of peculiar difficulty, but he determined to be in large
measure guided by the decision of the two subordinate
Ministers. " By May 22 I had made up my mind that I
could not vote against the woman franchise amendment if
Courtney and Fawcett went out on the matter. I could
not speak to them about it because of the ' Cabinet Secret '
doctrine. Childers had been directed by the Cabinet to
sound Courtney, because he was Courtney's official superior
in the Treasury. He was to offer him that if he would vote
against the amendment he should be allowed to speak for
woman franchise on the merits, and that none of its
opponents in the Cabinet (that is, all except myself) should
speak against it on the merits. I was unwiUing to go out,
but thought I could not do otherwise than make common
cause with Courtney."

Courtney and Fawcett stoutly resisted all appeals to
vote against the amendment, and when it was reached Dilke
followed their example by walking out. Their insubordina-
tion caused a miniature storm in the Cabinet. " Hartington
is very angry with me for not voting," wrote Sir Charles in
his Diary on June 12, " and wants me turned out for it.
He has to vote every day for things which he strongly dis-
approves. He says that my position was wholly different
from that of Fawcett and Courtney, because I was a party
to the decision of the Cabinet, and that custom binds the
minority in the collective decision. This is undoubtedly
the accepted theory." The matter came up for discussion
at a Cabinet on June 14, which decided that the three
mutineers should retain their posts.

From W. E. Gladstone

June 16, 1884. — ^The request which I have to make to you,
in connection with the recent and important division, will
perhaps be best introduced and explained by my sending you
in confidence a copy of the enclosed Memorandum which has
now received the authority of the Cabinet.

" It has probably come to the notice of my colleagues that,
in a division early this morning, which was known to be vital to

X RESIGNATION 197

the Franchise Bill and to the Government, three of its Members
abstained from voting. Preliminary intimations had been given
to this effect, and some effort had been made to bring about a
different intention. This change of mind was hoped for, but no
question of surprise can be raised. It is, however, an elementary
rule, necessary for the cohesion and character of Administrations,
that on certain questions, and notably on questions vital to
their existence, their Members should vote together. In the
event of their not doing so, their intention to quit the Govern-
ment is presumed, and in all ordinary circumstances ought to
take effect. At the present moment, however, besides the
charge of a great legislative measure and an ever-increasing
mass of other business, the Ministry is rapidly approaching a
crisis on a question of Foreign affairs which involves principles
of the deepest importance not only to the welfare of Egypt but
to the character and honour of the country, and to the law, the
concord, and possibly even the peace of Europe. It would be
most unfortunate were the minds of men at such a juncture to
be disturbed by the resignation of a Cabinet Minister, and of
two other gentlemen holding offices of great importance, on a
question which, important as it is, relates mainly to the internal
discipHne and management of the official corps. I therefore
propose to my colleagues that I be authorised to request of the
President of the Local Government Board, the Postmaster
General, and the Secretary to the Treasury, that they will do
us the favour to retain their respective offices.

W. E. Gladstone."

The Franchise Bill passed through the Commons with
little opposition, and the Third Reading on June 26 was
unchallenged ; but on July 8 the Lords declined to proceed
with it until it was supplemented by a scheme for Re-
distribution. The Prime Minister sharply rejoined that
the Bill would be reintroduced in an autumn session, and
his followers burst into a chorus of angry protest, Mr. Morley
proclaiming that the House of Lords should be either
" mended or ended." The indignation was a little too
shrill for Courtney's taste, though he was no admirer of the
Upper House as actually constituted.

To a Constituent

July 15, 1884. — ^The position of the House of Lords in refer-
ence to the Franchise BiU is deplorable ; but we need not

198 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

contemplate its abolition. My experience of the present and
the last House of Commons leads me to think a Second Chamber
might have its uses in moderating the action of the First Chamber
issuing directly from popular suffrages and representing in an
exaggerated form the predominant feeling at the time of an
election ; but the House of Lords does not supply this use.
It has two capital defects. It offers no check to the extrava-
gances of a party majority calling itself Conservative, and its
vote is (in appearance at least) absolute, not suspensory. Per-
haps we may feel our way in time to a House that shall exhibit
the attributes of a real Senate in maintaining its self-command
in the midst of excitement and in subjecting to the criticism of
common sense whatever comes before it from every quarter ;
but it will be necessary that it shall be reinforced by represent-
atives of classes now practically unrepresented in it and that
its power should be restricted to a suspensive veto.

During the autumn holiday Courtney found himself at
Preston at the same moment as the Prime Minister.

Journal

September 26. — Mr. Gladstone at the station, and we just
avoided coming in for the demonstration. All this speechifying
and demonstrating against the House of Lords very empty and
harmful in L.'s eyes, mere party speeches talked from one end
of the country to the other. We go down to Putney and discuss
it with Mr. Morley, who has gone in for it and apparently beheves
in it all heartily, and thinks that the Franchise BiU, which has
been sleeping very comfortably for many years in the Liberal
programme, has suddenly become so urgent that delay is almost
a crime.

On his autumn visit to his constituents Courtney
defended the right of the Lords to discuss the composition
of the Lower House, and approved their demand that re-
distribution should accompany an extension of the franchise.
While his political friends were busy picking holes in the
Upper Chamber, he reminded his hearers of the defects of
the Lower. " The present House of Commons falls very
short of my ideal. I can conceive a much better assembly.
It gives a wholly disproportionate importance to people of
wealth and is too much consumed by the spirit of party.

X RESIGNATION 199

As the Government of the day we do not get the assistance
we ought to have from our own supporters. Which of them
have led us to suspect that we were going wrong except
Sir Wilfrid Lawson, who deserves all honour for his inde-
pendence ? I have complained to members, Why are you
not more independent ? The House of Commons is full of
faults. So are the Lords. The Upper Chamber should be
improved by the addition of Life Peers and the election
of Scottish and Irish (and perhaps later of English) Peers
by Proportional Representation. We may thus gradually
secure a body which will keep our paths straight." " A
calm speech, with no party appeal," wrote Mrs. Courtney
in her Journal ; " quite too moderate to please our ardent
Cornishmen." It was indeed the utterance of an indepen-
dent private Member rather than of a Minister of the Crown,
and once more revealed his incorrigible tendency to think
for himself. A report of the speech was sent to various
friends, who gently resented its Olympian detachment.

From John Morley {to Mrs. Courtney)

October 14. — Many thanks for the newspaper. I don't think
that the orator's friends have any reason to complain. But the
situation is more heated than he supposes. The moment is not
entirely seasonable for the confession of sins. All that ought to
be done before the engagement begins.

The Minister's more conservative friends rejoiced at his
challenge to insurgent democracy.

From John Scott

Kandy, November 10, 1884. — I like your speech very much.
The Times reported it very well. I am very glad you stand by
a Second Chamber. The whole tone was manly, independent,
thoughtful and practical. You will some day find it difficult to
run in the same team as Chamberlain and Morley.

Despite the battle-cries of the opposing armies the
generals were not averse from compromise, and when it
was known that a Committee of the Cabinet had drawn up
a scheme for the redistribution of seats, peace was brought

200 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

within sight. When Parliament met on October 23 the
Franchise Bill was re-introduced and quickly carried
through the House ; and outside Parliament Lord SaHsbury
and Stafford Northcote met the Prime Minister and Dilke
and settled the outlines of a Redistribution of Seats, Their
fruitful labom-s were to secure the safe passage of the
Franchise Bill and a non-party scheme of Redistribution ;
but there was a tiny group of Liberal Members who waited
with bated breath to see whether the representation of
minorities formed part of the Downing Street compact.

On November 6 Courtney's closest personal and poUtical
friend in the Ministry passed away after a few days' illness.

Journal

Woke up as usual when L. came in from the House, and
asking him some questions I could hear from the dressing-room
that something was wrong. Then he came in and told me the
dreadful news in a tone of voice I shall not easily forget.^ It
was a very deep grief and a great loss politically as well, as we
felt when a few weeks later the Redistribution Bill came on
and he left the Government, protesting with two or three against
the BiU. How different his position would have been had Mr.
Fawcett lived to go out with him, as he undoubtedly would have
done. As Mr. Morley said, the resignation of those two would
have been an event.

To Richard Potter

November 14. — The loss of Fawcett is a terrible blow. It is
hard to believe that such abundant and joyous life has suddenly
ceased, and that we shall not again rejoice in his free and
courageous talk. I doubt whether he could have been taken
from us at a time of greater political anxiety. The immediate
future is most dark. My own fortunes are mixed up in the
struggle ; but I hope you will be satisfied that whatever happens
no step wiU be taken without the most anxious consideration.
Kate will share counsels as she must share fortunes. She is
brave enough for anything.^

^ In a note of 191 8 Lady Courtney adds, " I never saw him give way
so completely to such an outburst of grief."

* Courtney told his wife that resignation would mean the end of his
official life.

X RESIGNATION 201

Fawcett's death created a vacancy in the Chair of
Political Economy at Cambridge for which Courtney had
been a candidate in 1863, and in view of his probable
resignation his thoughts turned for a moment towards the
post. Roby sounded a few of the electors, Henry Sidgwick
amongst them, but reported against the plan. Stricter views
as to the necessity of residence had begun to prevail, and it
was generally agreed that the choice would fall on Alfred
Marshall.

From H. J. Roby

November 18. — The important question is what residence you
could give ; and I fear the amount demanded by the University
would be too much to be properly compatible with Parliamentary
work. Moreover, it is quite possible that if you go out of office
you may not be long out ; and I do not think office and the
Professorship are compatible, though there are the instances of
Harcourt and Fawcett to the contrary. Both are somewhat
special cases. I think on the whole the more dignified course
would be not to be a candidate, though I say it with great
reluctance. I should think you would have no difficulty in
getting good newspaper emplo)anent.

Though on the threshold of the Cabinet the Financial
Secretary was told nothing of the discussions of the Four.
He had httle hope that the principle would be adopted by
the Government, for Gladstone had opposed it in 1867. He
felt it his duty nevertheless to forward a lengthy Memoran-
dum to the Prime Minister. ^

To W. E. Gladstone

November 8, 1884. — The answer you gave last week to the
enquiry of Sir John Lubbock was probably such as he himself
expected ; but it must have left him and those who like myself
agree with him anxious lest the principle of proportional re-
presentation should not receive due consideration at a time when
consideration of it may be fruitful. The Redistribution Bill
will follow the Franchise Bill, but the scheme of the Redistribu-
tion Bill must be formed while the Franchise Bill is still in

^ Abridged.

202 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

process. When it is once laid upon the table the introduction
of any new principle into it must be perilous if not impossible.

I venture to address you then on my own responsibility, and
I would plead in justification the very large number of M.P.'s
(190 or more) who have become members of the Proportional
Representation Society, and have thus expressed their approval
of its principle, and my own professed and now long-rooted
sense of its national importance. My appreciation of the
principle of Proportional Representation is more than thirty
years old, and dates before the recognition of it in the Reform
Bill of 1853 brought in by Lord (John) Russell when your col-
league in the Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen ; although I must
confess that at that time my apprehension of it was imperfect.
I was, however, thus early strongly convinced of the injury
done to our national life by the deleterious training more or
less undergone by every one who is drawn into the political
world, and by the loss of men who are shut out of it as refusing
to submit to this training. There are men who cannot serve
the State just as there are men who cannot serve the Church
because they cannot subscribe, except in a non-natural sense,
to all the articles imposed on those admitted to service. Many
persons must have many ways of regarding the same subject ;
but the vice, which I have thus briefly indicated, seems to me
the spring of the evils of our poUtical system. We deny our-
selves some of the richest elements of national Ufe. Parhament
is not a distillation of the best wisdom of the Commonwealth.
It is derived I will not say from contaminated but from im-
perfect sources. I may remind you that you yourself have
been witness to the decUne in the standard of ParUamentary
Ufe during the last thirty years, and we must look to other
communities of EngUsh origin, to our Colonies whether attached
or detached from us, for the fuller outcome of what is yet in
germ among ourselves. There you will find the pubUc good
become the spoil of professional poUticians, against whose
domination the better sort struggle again and again to set them-
selves free, but struggle is vain. It was, I suppose, under the
influence of some such views as these of democratic develop-
ment that Mr, Mill hailed with enthusiasm the revelation of
the true principle of representation. It gave him, he said, a
new hope.

I have not dwelt upon points which have perhaps more
powerfully attracted the majority of minds to proportional
representation, because I have thought it due to you to go at
once to what I beheve to be the centre of the argument. But

X RESIGNATION 203

you will perhaps let me indicate some of these points. In the
first place we can have no security that the result of an election
conducted according to the habitual method, i.e. when the
country is divided into districts in each of which the majority
of its electors elect its representatives — corresponds to the
division of parties among the mass of electors. I speak of
two parties as the simplest case. The two parties may be
evenly distributed among all the divisions of the country so
that the dominant party monopoUses all the representation,
as is approximately done in Wales and Scotland. Or, without
a practical monopoly, a slender majority on one side may pro-
duce a disproportionate majority in the representative assembly.
Or a majority among the electors may fail to secure even a
majority among the elected. Next to the uncertainty that
must attach to the result of an election is the point of the
enormous power the system throws into the hands of a small
oscillating fraction. It is through this that the degradation
of the character of candidates has been made most manifest
to many. It is through this that the tendency arises, which
you have noted, towards a gerontocracy or a plutocracy. I
am bound, however, to add that there is some compensation
here, for it is through this that an earnest minority compels
attention to its views. Unable to attain its proper, direct
representation in the legislature, it more or less tardily, and
with more or less of sincerity in the result, converts to its views
candidates who know that without its support their candidature
must be unavaiHng. Closely connected with the last point is
the evil of the great turnovers of pohtical parties, which recently
observed at home is a perpetually recurring phenomenon in
our Colonies. I believe that there are no such violent changes
in the national judgment as these election results would indicate.
I would wish not to trespass unduly on your time, but you
may perhaps expect me to say a word or two on the plans for
realising the principle of proportional representation, supposing
the principle is admitted. The present Umited vote is an im-
perfect device ; but it cannot be contested that it secures a
far better representation of the constituencies to which it is
applied than the method it superseded or (I would add) any
method of pure majority voting. The cumulative vote has
been applied on a larger scale and with remarkable success,
as far as attaining what was desired, in School Board stations.
It has made the Act of 1870 workable, as it has secured the
representation and, in most Boards, the co-operation of parties
that under the older system have been fighting for exclusive

204 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

possession, and would be forced, when in possession, to make
their first object the promotion of sectional interests. In the
single transferable vote I would submit a method which would
realise all the good the cumulative vote has secured, while
emancipating the electors from the necessity of conforming
to the directions of some political organisation which the cumu-
lative vote undoubtedly requires. But there are many other
plans, any one of which I should be ready to support, tending
towards the end I seek. Any coat is better than none, and
there is a choice of serviceable garments for those who wish
to be clothed.

I cannot conclude without a few words on a subject I regard
as of transcendent importance in connection with this reform.
I mean Ireland. The future of Ireland is dark and threatens
to become one of deepening gloom. If we contrast the Parha-
mentary representation of the Island with what it was twenty-
five years ago, and then attempt to picture what it may be a
few years hence we must be filled with anxiety. We may reduce
the disorganisation within the House of Commons by the adop-
tion of adequate rules ; but no reformed rules can cope with
the fact of a Parliamentary representation of Ireland irreconcil-
ably opposed with few exceptions to the ParUamentary connec-
tion with Great Britain. If this threatened ParUamentary
representation did truly correspond with the division of opinion
in Ireland, the conscience of the nation would not endure to
maintain the Union. Home Rule would be inevitable. Yet
there must still remcdn within its confines a large residue of
temperate opinion, in the best sense of the words both Liberal
and Conservative, which is faiUng to secure ParUamentary
expression and is in imminent danger of being soon entirely
deprived of it. With its waning influence in the legislature its
life must wane ; and, unless my forebodings are aU false, the
prospect before us should compel the most anxious care to save
loyal and rational Irishmen from exclusion from the ParUa-
mentary arena. There is a strong case in Great Britain for
large efforts to secure proportional representation ; but in
Ireland it is clamorous. In this interest I would most earnestly
beseech a consideration of the whole subject before the day of
consideration is past.

Ten days later the Prime Minister sent a non-committal
acknowledgement of the Memorandum.

RESIGNATION 205

From W. E. Gladstone

November 20, 1884. — ^The full and able exposition of your
views on proportional representation, with which you have
favoured me, has been brought in extenso under the notice of
my colleagues in the Cabinet, who are well aware of your title
to have your views carefully weighed. I am sure you wiU
feel that in the peculiar circumstances of the moment I am not
able to go beyond this assurance.

The most sympathetic comment came from the Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland.

From Lord Spencer

November 11, 1884. — This is to thank you extremely for
sending me a copy of your letter to Mr. Gladstone on propor-
tional representation. My incUnations and desires are still
strongly with the sense of your letter, but I feel great difficulties
as to the practical nature of any scheme which has been pro-
duced. I share your feeUngs in Fawcett's loss. He would
have been of immense use just now. I have been and am so
occupied with Irish work that I have not been able to work up
the question as I could wish.

The difficulties of his position were set forth in a letter
to Penzance.

To his sister Margaret

November 21. — People have no doubt been asking you
whether I am going to resign. I have not resigned as yet, but
all things seem leading that way. It is not an agreeable prospect,
especially as my resignation will almost certainly be ineffectual
for any immediate practical purpose, and I shall be condemned
as a crotchety man unfit for business life if not as a disappointed,
iU-tempered person. For us who believe that the character of
the Legislature and through it of the nation depends on this
issue there is nothing left but to bear witness to what we hold
to be the truth, and so I look forward to going below the gang-
way to Hft up my voice in the wilderness. Kate, as you may
be sure, is very much occupied with this crisis. She has the
greatest faith and courage equal to her faith ; but it is rather
hard on her, and she chafes a Httle at the incapacity to do any-

2o6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

thing and would like to rouse Sir John Lubbock and others to
more activity. Fawcett's death in this is a terrible loss as in
other things. You asked about the Postmaster-Generalship.
Childers spoke to me about it when it was vacant, saying he
should urge my claims if I should Hke to move. I repUed that
as it seemed not impossible I should be out very soon I did not
think it fair to lay myself out for a new appointment, about
which I might not in any case greatly care.

The view taken by most of his friends was strongly
against resignation.

From H. J. Rohy

November i8, 1884. — If Don Quixote once mounts his steed.
Heaven knows whither he will ride or how he will behave. I
wish you could prevail on yourself not to mount him at aU.
The cause is not worthy of it. It is too abstract, and, if the
distribution of seats is settled in a few months the cause, however
valuable, must go to sleep for years.

From John Morley

November 22. — I hope you did not misunderstand an expres-
sion of mine last night. When I said that I wished you had
come out eighteen months ago, that did not mean that I should
hke to see you come out now. On the contrary, I shall wholly
regret that step. Eighteen months ago / was too inexperienced
in the House of Commons to make any show against their
Egyptian poUcy. If you had been below the gangway, you
might have led an effective protest. All that is now too late —
and some new start will have to be made, I hate your making
a demonstration of this gravity on a question where you will
find httle sympathy — and, I may say, no sympathy at all among
those large classes who would most earnestly respond to your
views on foreign and colonial poUcy. It is in this field that I,
at least, hope to see you exercising an all-important influence.
We shall need it aU,

A confidential interview with Childers was authorised
by the Prime Minister ; but the Secretary to the Treasury
obtained little consolation from his official chief. It was
an anxious week-end. Though nobody knew what the
Prime Minister was going to say, the friends of minority
representation were prepared for the worst.

X RESIGNATION 207

Journal

November 29. — Opening of mosaic at St. Jude's, Whitechapel.
Mr. Matthew Arnold, who was to give the address, to breakfast.
We go down together. L, takes the chair. Impending political
events so engross my mind that I hardly heard anything. Mr.
F. Buxton speaks to me and I tell him that L. will probably
resign on Monday. He is much upset and tries to dissuade him,
and comes again on Sunday to do so. Mr. Arthur Elliot is also
much concerned.

Protests were unavailing, for the Minister had resolved
to resign unless the Prime Minister's statement proved
satisfactory.

Journal

Monday,. December i. — Mr. Gladstone announces outline of
Redistribution Bill to the party. Leonard sends in his resigna-
tion on hearing it. I go to the House, and for some time do
not know whether he has resigned or not, as I cannot see him.
Finally he is seen alone in the Gallery, and I know he has left
the Treasury Bench for good. Was ever politician in such a
minority as he seemed that night, with two or three forlorn and
depressed allies ? Notwithstanding I felt a strange triumph,
and never thought my husband a bigger man than I did that
evening. He was doing a momentous thing and doing it so
simply and unobtrusively and without heroics !

After the announcement of the Cabinet plans the Secre-
tary to the Treasury at once wrote to inform the Prime
Minister of his irrevocable resolve.

To W. E, Gladstone

December i. — I think our conversation will have so far pre-
pared you that you will not be surprised to receive my resigna-
tion of the office I hold. I tender it with great regret, for I
have naturally prized much the honour of serving under you ;
but with the judgment I have been constrained to form of the
character and probable results of the Redistribution Bill I
cannot hesitate. I would only ask you to believe that I do not
take this step until after much and painful deliberation. I
cannot conclude without thanking you very sincerely for the
personal kindness I have received from you, a sense of which
will always abide with me as a private Member.

2o8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

From W. E. Gladstone

December i. — If you unhappily quit the Government, the
Queen and the country will lose a most able pubUc servant, who
has done in a short time much admirable work. To this con-
nection I shall add great and sincere personal concern. Yet I
feel we have no right to dun you in a matter which you have,
I know, considered seriously and with much pain. I cannot
help, however, pleading my grey hairs as an apology for stating
to you that the step, even if at the last unavoidable, is, as I
think, premature. It is in my opinion, and according to my
experience, a fixed rule of English administration that an of&cial
Member of ParUament, not yet in the Cabinet, only becomes
responsible for any proceeding of the Government outside his
department when as a Member of ParUament he has to take his
line in regard to it. This you will not do until the question of
proportional representation shall be raised upon the Bill. It is
most important on general grounds that this rule should not
be further tightened. I hope, then, you will consider the
decision as suspended. But I go a step further. I believe that
judges of great weight deem our proposal of one-Member districts
well adapted to the condition of Ireland, which, I also believe,
has much to do with the resolution you announce. Would
you not hear Lord Spencer on this subject ? And if so allow
me to arrange for your calling upon him. Pray do not deem
this a worrying letter.

To W. E. Gladstone

December i. — I am bound by every consideration of duty
and of incUnation to reply at once to your very kind letter. I
would gladly consider my resignation suspended were that
possible consistently with my estimate of the facts of the situa-
tion ; but indeed that is not possible. The Redistribution Bill
will probably pass without material change ; but, as I am driven
to the conclusion that it will have a painfully injurious effect
on our poUtical Ufe, I am bound to bear my testimony, however
unavailing, against it, and if I am to bear any testimony I must
not delay the first witness of resignation. I am glad to under-
stand Lord Spencer takes a favourable view of the operation
of the Bill in Ireland, and should, of course, be deUghted to see
him personally as you suggest, but I am afraid I cannot antici-
pate any effect of an interview in modifying my conclusion.
The great kindness of your letter would have constrained me
could any argument have prevailed.

X RESIGNATION 209

Letters of regret or congratulation poured in from
Ministers, Treasury colleagues, and personal friends.

From Lord Spencer

December 2. — I am extremely sorry to hear that you have
resigned. I do not write with any idea of influencing your
action, or because any opinions of mine are worthy of your
consideration, but merely to express my great regret that the
Government has lost so able a member. Personally I shall miss
you very much at the Treasury, as I have in not unfrequent
communications had the greatest satisfaction in discussing
Treasury matters with you. I may also say that as I sympathise
warmly with your views on Minority Representation, I regret
that you find yourself obliged to part with Mr. Gladstone upon
the question.

From Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice
{Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs)

December 2. — I need hardly tell you with how much regret
I have learnt we are to be no longer colleagues. I had always
believed you would be the next person admitted into the Cabinet,
and this feeUng makes me admire your determination all the
more. I regret very much the cutting up of our large towns
into wards for the purposes of election. With the exception of
W. E. Forster, I have heard nobody say a word in favour of it,
and I believe it will be most unpopular in the towns themselves.
But on this, as on the question of minority representation, the
Tories, whom we have to thank for the arrangement, have
not been able to look at anything except temporary poUtical
advantage ; and even as to that they are probably mistaken.

From Lord Bramwell

December 2. — I am very sorry to hear of your resignation.
Is it necessary ? The Ministry will lose their best man. I say
it and mean it.

From Mrs, Fawcett

December 2. — I am so glad of the news in this morning's
paper ; and I wish to send you and Mrs. Courtney this Hne of
congratulation. You know, I am sure, you would not have
been alone in this action of yours if Harry had been here to join

P

210 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

you. He often spoke of this to me. It will be harder for you

now to fight your battle single-handed ; but you have plenty of
strength and courage, Mrs. Courtney must be very proud and
happy to see her husband fighting " where what he most doth
value must be won."

From William Stebhing

December 2. — In one sense I am exceedingly sorry. Your
rise to high official rank appeared so certain and easy. But in
another and superior sense I admire you for the act, though
it is only what I should have anticipated from you.

From H, J. Roby

December 2. — So you have done the deed and recovered your
liberty to protest. Well, I dare say you feel mentally more
comfortable, but I am sorry it has come to this, and if it was to
come to this, wish you had a reason which commanded more
of my sympathy. But conscience does make fanatics of some.

The resignation of a thrifty financier was lamented by
his brother watch-dogs of the Treasury.

From Sir Reginald Welby

December 2. — I see with great regret that we are to lose you.
There are of course convictions which admit of no compromise
and I am the last man to wish that any one of note in public
life should sacrifice such convictions. But at the same time
both personally and in the pubHc interest I sincerely regret
your determination. The first and foremost duty of the
Treasury is defence of the EngUsh tax-payer, and strange to say
the EngUsh tax-payer appears to resent such care of his interest.
But if the interest is neglected the State will suffer. The old
generation of statesmen appreciated this consideration. The
new one does not, and I should have been heartily glad to keep
at the Treasury as a Chief almost the only one of the new
generation to whom the old tradition of the Treasury recom-
mended itself. I hope your separation from the Government
will be but temporary.

The Minister's regret at leaving his post was as keen
as that of his colleagues.

X RESIGNATION 211

To Sir Algernon West ^

December 8. — I am very sorry to sever my of&cial connection
with the Treasury ; yet I think I may pledge myself to continue
faithful to my interest in it. If a voice is wanted in the House
I will not be silent. Assuredly my work was made Ughter and
easier by your co-operation.

On December 4 the late Minister seized the opportunity
of the Second Reading of the Redistribution Bill to make
the customary speech of explanation.

Journal

December 4. — I go to the Speaker's Gallery and sit in front
of Mrs. Gladstone while Leonard makes his protest. A sincere
and earnest speech, in parts eloquent but not at his best. Mrs.
Gladstone rather characteristically says to me, " My dear,
I had no idea your husband was such a clever man." The
Prime Minister passes it by with a jesting answer, and half the
House professes not to understand L.'s explanation of the single
transferable vote, — followed and understood by large audiences
of a lower class later on.

The speech opened with a friendly tribute to the Prime
Minister, " He appealed to me to remain in tones of
kindness which I shall ever remember. Nothing but the
strength of my conscientious conviction would have upheld
my resolve. Let me tender him my most hearty thanks
for the kindness he has ever exhibited, and say that in
parting from him I feel my attachment to him increased
rather than diminished." Turning to the cause of his
resignation he asked the question, Why do I so solemnly
protest against the creation of these new single-Member
constituencies ? The answer was threefold. It was a
departure from the old lines of the Constitution. It was
not truly representative of opinion. It would lower the
character of Members of Parliament. After the elucidation
of technical details and the citation of American illustra-
tions came the peroration, rendered poignant by a reference

^ Sir Algernon West, Recollections, ii. 221.

212 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

to the death of Fawcett. " You would nowhere have
people with their power thrown away. You would have a
reflection of the national will and the national wisdom.
There would be no single artisan or agricultural labourer
or man of learning who would not be able to say. There is
somebody in the House for whom I voted who represents
me. No such promise of freedom can be secured by any
other machinery. I cannot sufficiently deplore my own
want of power to preach this gospel. If the proceedings
of this night had occurred one short month ago I should
not have been alone in deserting that bench or in advocat-
ing this cause. Those who shared his counsel, who knew
his thoughts, who accompanied him so many years in his
pohtical hfe, cannot do him more honour than in being
faithful to the doctrines he held. I for my part would pray
to God to be faithful to this cause."

The Prime Minister at once rose to reply, and returned
the compliments of his dissentient colleague. " In his
departure from the service of the Crown and of the nation
we have sustained a heavy loss. In that official career,
though not very lengthened, he has made his mark upon
the administrative business of the country ; and to this
acknowledgment of the past I desire to add an expression
of a fervent hope for the future — that either with this or
with some other Government congenial to him he may for
many long years be united without the mitoward occur-
rences or impediments such as have now deprived us of
his valuable services." Passing to the subject at issue he
conceded that any and every plan was open not only to
plausible but to real objections, and that in much of his
criticism the ex-Secretary to the Treasury had stood on
sohd ground. WTien, however, he had come to develop
his own scheme, " which he worships as embodying some-
thing very near to pohtical perfection," the sympathy of
the House had begun to fail. His proposal, indeed, though
certified as simple enough, was in truth a pons asinorum
which very few Members would be able to cross. But
whether the system were complicated or the reverse, he
had exaggerated both its merits and the evils which it was

X RESIGNATION 213

designed to cure. Why should such condemnation be
poured on the single - Member constituency, which had
returned many of the most eminent members of the House
and was adopted all over the world ? If the system was
so disastrous, such universal approval and acquiescence
would be inexpHcable. The Government had been con-
fronted by a choice of evils ; and when the Bill reached
Committee alterations could be freely discussed.

The speech was a dexterous effort in the Prime
Minister's lighter vein. His task was facilitated by the
fact that the motion before the House was for the second
reading of a first-class measm-e, and that it was hardly the
occasion for a detailed rejoinder to a technical disquisition
on a single issue. Courtney, on the other hand, was
justified in claiming that Gladstone had contested none of
his facts. Except for a reasoned argument from Sir John
Lubbock the debate paid Httle attention to Proportional
Representation ; and it was obvious to friends and foes
alike that the House would never take the question seriously
until the electorate had been wooed if not won. When the
Bill reached Committee, Sir John Lubbock, supported by
Courtney and Albert Grey, moved for the introduction of
the principle ; but only thirty-one Members found their
way into the division lobby. A final protest came from
the ex-Minister on the Third Reading.

Despite the friendly gestures of farewell, the resigning
Minister felt no pang in parting from his chief. " Even
apart from his rather rugged poUtical independence," writes
Lord Fitzmaurice, " few mental links existed between his
general outlook and that of Mr. Gladstone. Indeed most
of their mental characteristics were almost of an opposite
character. Nobody ever misunderstood what Courtney
meant, nor was his mind in a state of constant and fre-
quently unexpected development Uke that of Mr. Gladstone.
He held the pure and undiluted doctrine of the poUtical
economic school of Bentham and Mill, and never swerved
from one jot or tittle of the law. Now this school was one
with which Mr. Gladstone's mind had neither sympathy
nor affinity at any time. Courtney's mind in fact, trained

214 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

not in the casuistries of Oxford theology but essentially
conditioned by the hard if somewhat narrow school of
Cambridge studies, was the exact opposite of the clerical
mind. Therefore although affection for sound finance and
economy, and a strong disUke for South African poUtical
adventures, brought Mr. Gladstone and him occasionally
into hne together at an early date in the Parliament which
had lasted untU 1880, mental sympathy there would be little
or none between two natures so differently constituted. " The
analysis of temperamental difference is perfectly correct ;
but it was an ironical coincidence that on the occasion of
their parting the illustrious casuist should be found guard-
ing the broad highway and reminding his lieutenant of the
Umitations of the common man.

It is no part of the biographer's duty to deliver judge-
ment on Courtney's resignation of office. He acted after
mature dehberation and in spite of the protest of his friends.
He had counted the cost, and he never complained of the
price that he was called upon to pay. Whether he was
justified in attaching such transcendent importance to a
question of poUtical machinery will be answered in different
ways according to our estimate of the need and practi-
cal value of Proportional Representation. StiU less is it
posf/^ible to determine with general assent what issues are
grave enough to compel a Minister, who is not a member
of the Cabinet, to quit his post. The ethics of resignation
are not an exact science, and there wiU always be marginal
cases in which the only guidance is to be found in the
individual conscience. Courtney's action in 1884 belongs
to the same category as Gladstone's resignation on the
Maynooth Grant in 1845 ; and in explaining his conduct to
his constituents he quoted the poignant words of the chief
from whom he had parted. "The choice before me was
to support the measure or to retire into a position of com-
plete isolation, and, what is more, subject to the grave and
general imputation of political eccentricity. It is not pro-
fane if I say. With a great price obtained I this freedom.
In giving up what I highly prized I felt myself open to the
charge of being opinionated and wanting in deference to

X RESIGNATION 215

great authorities ; and I could not but know that I should
be regarded as fastidious or fanciful, and fitter for a dreamer
than for pubUc life in a busy and moving age." While the
mass of men looked on with slightly contemptuous bewilder-
ment, there were not a few who rejoiced to discover that a
public servant of the front rank was willing to sacrifice his
position and to jeopardise his political career in vindication
of a life-long conviction.

Among the grounds of resignation was the probable
effect of the Bill in wiping out the Liberal element in Ireland
and handing over the country body and soul to Parnell.
His views were shared by the O'Conor Don, who emphasised
the danger in forcible terms.

From the O'Conor Don

December 7, 1884. — Allow me to express my great admiration
for the practical proof you have given of the sincerity of your
convictions by your resignation of office. Whatever this same
Bill may do in Great Britain, its effects in Ireland will beyond
all question be most disastrous. I cannot see how we can stop
short I will not say merely of " Repeal " but of " Separation."
The Franchise and Seats BiUs taken together will absolutely
extinguish aU Liberal representation in Ireland outside the
ranks of those who will be pledged to " separation." It may
be that the Bill will leave a few Tory seats in the North of Ireland,
but as to Liberal seats as distinguished from Nationalists there
will be none, or so few that I may say none. If this represented
the real feeling of Ireland it would be all right ; but it will not
do so. A large minority in the three provinces of Leinster,
Munster and Connaught will be wholly unrepresented, and a
Liberal Government will have to face the whole Irish repre-
sentative body as hostile — either extreme Tories or Nationalists.

Courtney forwarded the letter to the Prime Minister,
who was so obsessed by the complexity of minority repre-
sentation that no Irish or other arguments could shake him.

From W. E. Gladstone

December 19. — ^Thank you for your letter with its inclosures
and the letter of the O'Conor Don. I believe my description

2i6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

of the general merits of the House of Commons on the first
hearing of your plan was true and that few were able to pay
the toll upon the bridge. There is great advantage in studying
it on paper, and the case of the capable citizen becomes more
hopeful, without the smallest reproach to the deliverer of the
oral explanation. Doubtless there are many other points to be
considered besides intelligibility, but even on this last ground
I still fear there would be many victims.

Though the Prime Minister had hardened his heart.
Lord Acton was a convinced supporter, and told Mary
Gladstone that a friend whom he had met at dinner " was
a little shocked to find that I agree with Courtney." ^

When Parliament adjourned for the Christmas holidays
on December 6, Courtney started on a campaign in the
country, in which his principal allies were his Parliamentary
colleagues, Sir John Lubbock and Albert Grey, afterwards
Earl Grey. The mission opened in Manchester, where his
host, Mr. C. P. Scott, then and now Editor and Proprietor
of the Manchester Guardian, was a zealous friend of the
cause. The first gathering was held at the Reform Club
with Mr. Scott in the chair. His proposal was presented ^
as " steeped in the essence of democracy " and " containing
within itself the realisation of the widest conception of
popular sovereignty." Mr. Gladstone, in his reply in the
House of Commons, had never ventured to question his
facts or refute his arguments, or to deny the assertion that
a majority of Members had been returned by a minority
of electors in England and the United States. For instance,
the Conservative majority of 1874 was secured by a minority
of voters. That was the first and fatal objection to the
single-Member constituency, — ^that a Parliament sometimes
represented the minority instead of the majority. The
second was that it failed to secure the representation of the
different modes of thinking and living. For instance, the
working class had enjoyed the franchise since 1867, but
were virtually without representatives. " The upper classes
are as kindly natured as the lower ; but their experience

^ Letters to Mary Gladstone, 157.
' The address was published as a pamphlet.

X RESIGNATION 217

has not made them famihar with the trials of the poor,
any more than the experience of the poor has made them
famihar with the tasks of the rich. What we want in
Parhament is the presence of both, instructing one another,
raising one another, and making Parhament a reflex of the
temper, the will, the intelligence and the knowledge of the
kingdom. You would get such a revival of spirit and of
hfe that when this ideal is secured a miracle would be
wrought throughout the kingdom not inferior to the miracle
of the Valley of Dry Bones. A town would be represented
as a whole and not in fragments, and every class and school
of thought would have its spokesman and champion."

Next evening a meeting was held in the Free Trade
Hall.

To his Wife

December 18. — It was grand. We had not a full hall but
still a large number, all keenly interested. Up to the time
of voting I did not know whether we should carry our resolution.
It was carried by about three to two.

On the following day he joined Albert Grey, who had
already begun a campaign in the mining villages of Durham
and was full of schemes for the furtherance of the gospel.

From Albert Grey

December 9. — If you can only succeed in winning the miners
as a class, I have hopes that we may also succeed in winning the
Tories as a party. I am holding my meetings in the pit districts
as private meetings. They are unreported, and this enables
me to make use freely of arguments which I would not dare to
use if what I said was to be read by the Tory farmer. I am
anxious, however, to secure the miners first and do not intend
to approach the Tories until after Christmas. By that time my
work in the pit districts will be done. If on the meeting of
Parliament I could bring up from Northumberland a numerously
and plentifully signed petition in favour of the county being
made into one instead of four constituencies and its representative
being elected by the Hare Principle, something at any rate
would have been done to answer Gladstone's challenge that

2i8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

we must first obtain an entry for our views into the minds of
the people before we ask the House of Lords to Hsten to us.
I beUeve if we had time we could carry every single county,
but we have only the one short month of January.

The campaign inspired Sir Wilfrid Lawson to one of
his whimsical outbursts.

I agree, Mr. Grey,

With near all you say
On the evils we suffer from now.

Then you point out a scheme

Which will cure them, you deem.
But I own that I don't quite see how.

We move by slow stages

And live in dark ages,
Slow Cometh the dawning of day.

Things would go wrong, I guess,

With the papers, unless
They were counted by Courtney and Grey.

Still I'm struck by some twinkling.

And have a small inkling.
That your plan after all may be good.

So just work away,

Courtney, Lubbock and Grey,
Till you make yourselves right understood.

After the two missionaries had addressed some miners'
meetings, Courtney went on to Newcastle to stay with
Dr. Spence Watson, whence he reported himself " in very
good spirits with the star tour in the provinces." Return-
ing home for Christmas he was soon off again, and carried
the fiery cross through the great cities as far north as
Glasgow. Test elections were frequently held, and for the
first time the theory and practice of Proportional Repre-
sentation were expounded to large audiences with perfect
clarity and apostolic fervour. " This rowdy platformery and
fierce democratic agitation evidently suits you after all,"
wrote John Morley, good-humouredly turning the tables on
the critic of his own campaign against the Lords. " F.
reports you as in famous spirits. I know that I shall come
upon you bawling out of a carriage window at Preston one

X RESIGNATION 219

of these days." Two months later, when the struggle was
over, Courtney surveyed the loss and gain in a letter to the
Chairman of the American Committee for Proportional
Representation, who had written to congratulate him on
his unselfish devotion to the cause.

To Mr. Stern

March 13, 1885. — The newspapers will have told you of our
Parliamentary failure. This was certain from the outset, but
I confess I did not think we should have been so badly beaten.
There are few who care to be found unnecessarily on the losing
side, and many who were clamorous in the beginning in denuncia-
tion of the division of our big towns are now not merely silent
but cheerfully accepting the situation. The private agreement
between the heads of the two great parties was our death-blow.
The remonstrants, whether Liberals against the Government
or Conservatives against the Conservative chiefs, have dropped
away as they perceived that if they would save their lives
politically they must go with their chiefs. Thus the Parlia-
mentary failure of our movement has been sad. We have had,
however, eminent cause of satisfaction in the progress we have
made in the country. We have had meetings open to all comers,
when our principles and plans have been expounded with nearly
unvarying success. Opponents have come, and have declared
their adverse judgment and even attempted to persuade the audi-
ences, but in vain. With two exceptions we have carried our
meetings with considerable and sometimes overwhelming majori-
ties. We have disseminated a large mass of literature. We have
held test elections. Debating societies and political clubs have
been furnished with ballot papers and instructions and have held
elections of their own. In this way much seed has been sown
and we are sanguine it will bear fruit. We shall now look forward
to the coming General Election which will probably illustrate
our arguments in the most forcible fashion. I cannot conclude
without a word of thanks for your kind expressions relatively
to myself. I do not anticipate any injury at least in the long
run, and for the present I am relieved from much that was
painful. Indeed I congratulate myself on having resigned at
the time I did, as it would have been most hard and yet most
necessary to have resigned subsequently on the new development
of the Soudan policy of the Government.

CHAPTER XI

THE SUDAN

After the suppression of Arabi's rebellion in 1882 Egypt
ceased for a short time to attract much public notice ; but
the rise of the Mahdi and the disaster to Hicks Pasha in
1883 again turned all eyes to the valley of the Nile, and led
the Khedive, on British advice, to abandon the Sudan.
When Gordon was despatched in 1884 to withdraw the
Europeans and the Mahdist flood rolled round Khartum,
the country concentrated its gaze with passionate intensity
on the fortunes of the beleaguered garrison. As summer
passed into autumn and autumn into winter the progress
of the reUeving force was followed with hungry anxiety,
and a great volume of popular anger accumulated, ready
to descend on the head of the Government if help should
come too late. The gathering tragedy impelled Courtney
to reconsider his qualified acceptance of the policy of
intervention in 1882. " I am a little disposed," he declared
to his constituents in October, " to ask myself whether, if
we could begin again, we should go to Egypt at all." Before
long he was to reach the definite conclusion that it had been
a mistake, and that Bright's resignation had been an act of
wisdom as well as of courage.

Khartum fell on January 26, 1885 ; but the expected
news of the hero's death only reached London on February 5.
During the brief period of agonising suspense Courtney
addressed his constituents on " the one pressing question
of the hour," appealing over the heads of his Uttle audience
at Torpoint to the Prime Minister to stand firm against the

CHAP. XI THE SUDAN . 221

hurricane of passion that was sweeping through the land.
Gordon, he declared, had disobeyed orders, and instead of
withdrawing the European garrisons had determined to
" smash the Mahdi." We had done our best to save him,
but we had failed. " I ask those who say we must still go
and attack the Mahdi, even though the man we wish to rescue
is dead, to tell me on what ground of moraUty and policy
you justify such an attack ? It is said you must fight him
sooner or later. Why ? Because he has considerable power
in the Sudan. But do you wish to destroy his power in
the Sudan ? Oh no, they say. But he will advance into
Egypt. But had you not better wait and attack him as
he advances ? We know the difficulty of going into the
Sudan and fighting him there. In Eg5rpt we should be
near our base ; and we should be fighting in self-defence
If I stood alone and every one else in England were on the
other side, I would protest against the notion of waging war
against the Mahdi simply for the purpose of showing our
might. The crimes that have been committed on the plea
that you must beat a man who is getting too powerful are
unnumbered, and please God we wiU not add to them. If
you crush the Mahdi, what wiU you put in his place ? You
will be confronted with a bigger problem than you have on
your hands in Eg5^t. I should be the slowest of all to
beUeve that an English Government with Mr. Gladstone at
its head would give countenance to it."

It required no small courage to criticise the hero of the
hour and to rebuke the fierce cry for revenge. But it was
not his habit to wait for either leaders or comrades when
there was work to be done. His reference to Gordon's
neglect of instructions brought a protest from the " only
begetter " of the mission that had ended in heroic tragedy.

From W. T. Stead

February 19. — When you spoke in the West you were
evidently under a misconception as to the scope and extent of
General Gordon's mission. Might I take the liberty of asking
you to glance at the enclosed pamphlet, which your reflections
upon his memory and others of like nature have driven me to

222 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

publish ? If on reading this statement of facts you are con-
vinced that you did Gordon an injustice, I am sure you will
lose no time in saying so as publicly as you said what you did
about his exceeding his instructions.

To W. T. Stead

February 21. — I am obUged to you for your letter and early
copy of your extra. I hope I should be ready to correct publicly
any misstatement I had made respecting General Gordon if
convinced of the misstatement, but I cannot see that I have
been guilty of this, I have said that " smashing the Mahdi was
no part of his original instructions," and this statement appears
to me true in letter and spirit. In my speech in Cornwall I
was examining the question what it is incumbent on us to do
now, having regard to the poHcy of the Government, and I
pointed out that " smashing the Mahdi " had not been part of
their poHcy. The instructions given the General at starting
did not extend to this ; his memorandum written on board
shows that at the time he was conscious of a divergence of views
between himself and the Government, but was ready to work
out the more Umited task, or at least to attempt it. Sub-
sequently he insisted on the necessity of doing more ; but I do
not know that the Government ever admitted this necessity,
nor can the permissive discretion given him be employed to
fasten upon the Government an approval of his enlarged poUcy.
Even if his poHcy was right it was not the Government poUcy ;
and though the Government now appear to be adopting it more
or less consciously, you must allow me still to believe it a bad
pohcy.

Journal

February 1885. — Great excitement throughout the country
and clamour for a forward poUcy, the Press almost unanimously
pushing the Government deeper into the Sudan. Leonard at
Torpoint and Mr. Morley at Glasgow almost alone raise their
voices against any further bloodshed.

Their protests seemed to be in vain ; for on the day after
the newspapers announced the fate of Gordon, the Cabinet
instructed Lord Wolseley to overthrow the Mahdi's power
at Khartum. Yet even in those weeks of tense excitement
there was more opposition than was revealed in the press.

M THE SUDAN 223

From Frederic Harrison

February 14. — I cannot doubt that after your most cogent
speeches which have seriously stemmed the war fever, you will
go on to organise opinion in that sense. If you and Morley stir
yourselves and use all that is open to you, you may form a
powerful party and ultimately modify the policy of the Ministry.
I presume you are already working to get round you members
who will support you. I see that L. Stanley, Hopwood, Thomas-
son have spoken distinctly, and I cannot doubt that you will
have above thirty to forty English M.P.'s enabling you to be
independent of W. Lawson, Labby and Irish. But what I
want to press on you is not to despair of the opinion of the
electors even in London, and to go straight to the country. No
possible opposition can be constructed inside the House with
this rotten end of a Parliament. If Gladstone could be got to
go straight to the people, over the heads of the party and official
world, he could do what he liked. Three speeches from him in
Lancashire, Midlothian and the Midlands would even now destroy
the war party altogether, though it might possibly break up
his Cabinet. I congratulate you on your own splendid oppor-
tunity. Your good genius has come down ex machina just
when you most needed it. I was sorry you left the Ministry,
for you know what I think about P. R. But now that is dead
and buried here comes as fine a chance as ever came to a public
man in sore need at the nick of time. And if you and Morley
now use your chances, and can shake yourselves free of that
House of Commons fog which blinds Gladstone, you wiU soon
be on even terms with Dilke and Chamberlain.

Another old comrade sent an encouraging message from
the Riviera.

From Sir Wilfrid Lawson

February 15. — I cannot help sending you one Une of en-
couragement in the splendid fight which you and John Morley
— almost alone — are making against the madness of the British
nation and its rulers. I read with the warmest admiration and
approbation your speech which is reported in last Friday's
Times. The most encouraging thing was that apparently the
people agreed with your view of the matter. I suppose that
three years of Liberal massacres are beginning to tell at last
on the electorate, the same as Disraeli's five years of glory and
gunpowder at last caused a reaction. You are luckier than I

224 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

was when I attempted to stump the country against Gladstone's
invasion of Egypt in 1882, for not only was I then absolutely
alone, but the Liberal jingoes generally continued to make a
disturbance at the meetings and prevent a fair statement of
the case.

When Parliament reassembled on February 19 the
Conservatives naturally moved a vote of censure on the
Government for their failure to relieve Gordon, and were
supported by Goschen and Forster. The defence was lame
enough, for all the world was aware that the delay was in
part the result of divided counsels. Moreover, the Govern-
ment spokesmen, deeming it unchivahrous to tell all they
knew, and all that was to be revealed long afterwards by
Lord Cromer, of Gordon's unfitness for his delicate task,
offered an easy target for the shafts of the Opposition.
The discomfort of Ministers was increased by the fact that
while the Conservatives attacked them for having done too
little, a body of their own Radical supporters blamed them
for being about to do too much. An amendment to the
Vote of Censure was moved by John Morley regretting " the
decision of the Government to employ the forces of the
Crown for the overthrow of the power of the Mahdi " ; and
on the fourth and final day of the great debate Courtney
delivered an impassioned oration in its support. Reviewing
the divergent explanations and confessions of Ministers he
fixed on the avowal of Lord Derby, the Colonial Secretary,
that he now regarded our first intervention as a mistake.
A second decision had now to be made — should we smash
the Mahdi at Khartum ? The Government declared that
we must ; and yet not a single Minister desired to remain
in, still less to annex, the Sudan. When the news of Gordon's
death arrived the Cabinet determined to fight, thinking
that no Government could live unless it did so. If, however,
we succeeded in smashing the Mahdi, what should we do
with the Sudan ? Set up princelets who would need our
constant support ? We must either withdraw or undertake
to govern the country. " The issue before the nation rests
on the decision of one man. At a whisper from him, a
change of tone, a single utterance, it would rise to condemn

XI THE SUDAN 225

that in which it now silently acquiesced. If this crowning
responsibility is fuUy recognised, it may induce a half-
reluctant Minister to do what only a great Minister can —
retrace his steps and to undo the mischief which he has
unwittingly carried forward." The peroration was heard
in hushed silence, and all witnesses agree that Gladstone
was visibly affected.

Journal

February 26. — I hear his speech, the most powerful I ever
heard from him. It makes a marked impression on the House,
and the Prime Minister listens with undisguised sympathy,
and I think with some wincing at the close.

The verdict of the Ladies* Gallery is confirmed by an
experienced observer on the Irish Benches. " As the
evening advanced," wrote Mr. T. P. O'Connor,^ " the face
of the Prime Mmister began to be overclouded, and he
looked especially anxious while the speech of Mr. Courtney
was being dehvered. The speech was one that might well
make him uncomfortable. It was far and away the most
damaging attack that has yet been made upon the Govern-
ment, and was the first real exposition of the views of the
Peace party. To judge by their applause, although it was
low and timorous, the greater number of the Liberals agreed
with the destructive criticism which he passed upon the
pohcy of the Government, and nobody doubted that when
he sat down he had made it harder than ever for any Liberal
to vote for the plans of the Government." With the Front
Benches united on a forward policy, it was no small triumph
for the Peace party that 74 British and 40 Irish Members
followed the two dissentient Radicals into the Division
Lobby.

There was a good deal of heart-burning in Cornwall over
the new mutiny ; and the editor of the Plymouth Mercury
reinforced his pubhc rebukes by private exhortations, to
which Courtney sent a brief and characteristic reply.

Gladstone's House of Commons, p. 499.

9

226 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To Mr. Latimer

March 15. — I am well aware of the immense power of the
Prime Minister and of the risks I run in even appearing to differ
from him ; but there are political issues so grave that they
must be judged on their own merits, and our future must be
full of danger if newspapers do not help men to think a Uttle
for themselves even in the presence of the greatest names.
For myself I think I shall be found incurably addicted to the
Protestant right of private judgment.

It was natural that resentment should be felt not only
in Cornwall but in Downing Street.

Journal

Easter. — Large dinner at York House,^ among others Mr.
Chamberlain. He and L. pitch into each other very frankly,
to the amusement of every one. Mr, C. warns L. that if he
turns the Government out he will never get another seat for a
Liberal constituency.

Threats only stiffened Courtney's resolution. His wis-
dom, moreover, was vindicated early in April by the Cabinet's
decision to abandon the Sudan squth of Wady Haifa ; for
Wolseley had pointed out the magnitude of the task of
reconquest, and Sir Evelyn Baring advised against a further
advance. A scarcely less important factor in the decision
was the news which reached London on April 8 of a sudden
and unprovoked Russian attack on Penjdeh, on the Afghan
frontier. " Mr. Gladstone made a speech to-night," wrote
Mr. T. P. O'Connor ^ on April 21, " which everybody is
saying means war. In the first place he had to announce
the abandonment of the expedition to Khartum, and the
Radicals, like Mr. Morley and Mr. Courtney, who have so
vigorously opposed that wild and imbecile scheme, at once
burst into a cheer. Then came the ominous announcement
that the meaning of this abandonment was to have the
troops in the Sudan as well as all the other resources of

^ Mr. Potter's house in Kensington.
* Gladstone's House of Commons, p. 525.

XI THE SUDAN 227

the Empire available for service wherever they may be
required." But after obtaining a vote of credit from a
unanimous House of Commons, Gladstone persuaded Russia
to refer to the arbitration of the King of Denmark the
incidents of the Penjdeh attack. Courtney had never lost
confidence in the Prime Minister's good intentions, and
attributed what he regarded as his errors to mahgn fortune.
" Mr. Gladstone's ambition," he declared to his constituents,
" is to live at peace with all the world, respecting the rights
of every country,.great or small, infringing on the territory of
none, anxious to use the influence of England in bringing
about liberty throughout the world, but never imder the
pretence of hberty carrying anywhere the flame of war.
It is a grievous fact, lamented by none more than by Mr.
Gladstone himself, that he has been obliged to devote so
much time to foreign affairs ; but the difficulties have been
inherited."

On June 8 the Liberal Government was defeated on the
Beer duties, and Lord SaUsbury took command with Lord
Randolph Churchill as Chief of the Staff. Courtney shed
no tears over the fall of a Ministry with which he had had
such serious differences ; and his six months' wanderings
in the wilderness had encouraged his natural tendency to
independence. The new Premier was as pacific as his
predecessor, and in the eyes of the Philosophic Radical
Lord Randolph's Tory Democracy was as heretical as
Chamberlain's Unauthorised Programme. During the few
remaining weeks of the session the new Government did
Kttle but mark time ; but a Bill to remove electoral dis-
quaUfication by medical relief aroused the ire of the few
individualists left in the ranks of the great parties.

Journal

July 21. — A Medical Relief Bill is brought in, going far
beyond what Mr. Jesse Ceilings himself would have ventured
to propose. Leonard and a few — including our honest Con-
servative Mr. Pell — fought it tooth and nail, but found few to
go with them, though the majority of the Liberal Government
and the Conservatives had pledged themselves to the old principle

228 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

that all poor relief was to cut off the vote. But Mr. Chamberlain
and his friends having raised it as an election cry, the two parties
vie with each other as to who shall be most eager to meet the
probable popular feeHng. L. made a very fine speech.

Courtney's Spartan soul revolted at a proposal in which
he detected a " thoughtless levity " now rapidly gaining
ground in both political camps ; and with sublime disregard
of the approaching election he placed on the paper a resolu-
tion disapproving a measure " which removes an incentive
to independence and fundamentally changes the principle
under which pauperism has steadily diminished since
1834." The receiver of alms, he argued, he who cannot
support himself, was unfree, and therefore should not vote.
It was said that only 60,000 would be affected ; but the
number would grow. The gift would injuriously affect the
character of the working-classes and would increase pauper-
ism, as it had been increased by the Old Poor Law. " All
efforts to raise their position wiU be Valueless if they are
not encouraged to be independent and prudent. Only by
giving them prudence to look before and after can we ever
cure the nation of the curse of pauperism. The people at
large will be degraded by the Bill, which will arrest the
beneficent tendencies that have been in operation for the
last thirty years." At these words Jesse CoUings cried out
" Cruelty." " To make the people feel the consequences of
their own acts," retorted the speaker, " to prevent them
indulging in vice and pursuing improvidence, is not cruelty.
If we would raise the people we must tell them that their
position in the world depends on prudence." ^

The austere gospel of self-help contained an element of
fortifying truth ; but it had been so often employed by
selfish men to delay reforms and to palhate abuses that it
was ultimately displaced by the rival theory of a minimum
standard of life, to be attained by the active co-operation of
the State. It was for the latter doctrine that Chamberlain

^ "I do not care so much for Courtney's own disapproval," wrote
Henry Sidgwick, who heard the speech, " as his poUtical economy makes
it inevitable ; but I am afraid he is right in saying that practical philan-
thropists are against it." Sidgwick' s Life, p. 418.

XI THE SUDAN 229

had resolved to capture the Liberal party ; and his control
of the machinery filled with apprehension the adherents of
the older faith, who were denounced by the Birmingham
captain as a set of poHtical Rip Van Winkles.

Journal

July 22. — The day after L.'s speech on the Medical Relief
Bill I had arranged a picnic to Burnliam Beeches. Mr. Chamber-
lain talked a good deal and very frankly about politics ; but his
tone was detestable and made me feel that if he becomes as he
threatens to be the dominant power in the Liberal party, we
shall have no such thing as real freedom in political life. It
will all become an organised petty tyranny. Every politician
however honest who does not conform exactly to the will of
the majority of the party (and that wire-pulled to an extent
only known to a few) will be cut off and denounced. The day
will come when such Liberals as Leonard must fight this regime.
Meanwhile organisation is going on apace with the Birmingham
party, while the free are doing nothing except keep their reputa-
tions undamaged by any intriguing or sacrifice of principle to
election advantages. For some time I have thought that the
independent and non-demagogic Liberals should also make
themselves heard and insist on Lord Hartington coming more
to the front.

Courtney's impenitent individualism found utterance
about the same time in a four-column review in the Times
of the Inaugural Lecture of his friend Professor Marshall at
Cambridge. Fifty years ago, he begins. Political Economy
was filled with self-confidence, while its enemies, like Southey,
were sad and sometimes almost hopeless. To-day economists
were not so sure of their footing, while their enemies dis-
played the insolence of victory. How far was this loss of
authority the fault of its founders ? In admitting their
shortcomings the Professor had been too apologetic. It
was contended that they lacked the faith of the modems
in the possibility of a vast improvement in the condition
of the workers. It was true that they had not the philan-
thropic spirit of to-day ; but they were essentially humane
men. They beheved in the possibihty of a vast improve-
ment, but thought it would come very slowly and only

230 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

through the raising of the popular standard of social moraUty.
" In a generation of political enfranchisement it is inevitable
that cries for a swifter reformation of social evils should
arise." Malthus would have agreed with Louise Michel,
La PMlanthropie, c'est un mensonge. Henry George was
not the first and would not be the last to beUeve that he
had detected and could stanch the primary source of human
misery. The older econoniists were not infaUible ; but the
investigations of the latest thinkers left their great results
untouched.

The summer of 1885 was a period of drift and unsettle-
ment. Lord Salisbury was in office but not in power, and
nobody could forecast the issues or foretell the result of the
autumn election.

To John Scott

August 6. — ^As to politics we are very much at sixes and
sevens. It seems doubtful whether Gladstone will ever come
back to public life. Hartington is hanging back, doing nothing
in a large measure because he waits upon Gladstone — a con-
sideration which does not hamper Chamberlain, who goes about
the country proclaiming the strongest programme. It is a
question whether he wiU not cause such defection as to endanger
the Liberal majority at the General Election. Then a dismal
scandal has happened about Dilke. As to myself my position
in the House is certainly not worse — perhaps better — at the
end of the session ; but I shall have trouble in fighting East
Cornwall. I don't go far enough for some, especially the tee-
totallers, and I am suspected of not swallowing as gospel every-
thing Gladstone says. My opposition to the Medical ReUef
Bill is also a rock of offence.

Before leaving London at the end of the session Courtney
and his wife visited Mr. Morley and found him " leaning
more to L. and less to Mr. Chamberlain than he did. But
with whom he wiU eventually side when the fight comes,
as I think it will, it is difficult to say." " The fight " was
to come ; but the struggle that had already begun between
Birmingham Radicals and Hartingtonian Moderates was
soon to be eclipsed in a fiercer struggle, in which Chamber-
lain, Hartington and Courtney were to find themselves

XI THE SUDAN 231

standing shoulder to shoulder against Gladstone and Morley.
But these thunderclouds were still far away ; and the
member for Liskeard spent part of his holidays in a yachting
cruise to the north of Scotland and Norway. He landed
in Liverpool on September 16, his mind full of the coming
General Election ; and two days later he read Gladstone's
manifesto in the papers.

Journal

Leonard relieved and more than satisfied. It expressed his
views almost identically, including a confession of error in
Egypt and the Sudan, and will undoubtedly help him in fighting
S.E. Cornwall. It is rather against Free Education and Dis-
establishment for the present, though seeing that things are
tending that way, and for freeing land and simplifying transfer
before trying any experiments in Mr. Chamberlain's direction.

The merging of the borough of Liskeard in the con-
stituency of East Cornwall necessitated the delivery of a
large number of electioneering speeches. The candidate's
principal themes were Imperialism, Socialism, Free Trade
and Home Rule. In regard to the first he defended his
opposition to further bloodshed in the Sudan after the
death of Gordon ; and his comrade in the fight, John
Morley, came to Bodmin to claim a share in the merit. A
campaign in Burma was now threatened ; but there was no
justification for any war to enforce the contracts of British
traders. Scarcely less detestable than Imperialism was
Socialism. " The Liberal party has no socialistic views.
In Mr. Gladstone's programme you will find plenty of work,
but never a trace of socialism." The greatest task awaiting
the party was the establishment of county self-govern-
ment which would " sweep away the last refuge of clan
supremacy." Free Education, which was being proclaimed
by Chamberlain, might weaken the sense of responsibility
and self-sacrifice, and, like Gladstone, he could only promise
to examine a proposal which he frankly dishked. This
pronoimcement provoked a rebuke which inflicted moment-
ary pain.

232 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

From John Morley

November 6. — I have read your speech of last night with a
feeling that I hardly expected to have stirred by any speech
of yours. Surely you could have stated the objections to free
schools without making a direct attack on Chamberlain, and
the more especially as you admit that you have not yet made
up your mind. The appeal to the old Birmingham League and
to the Nonconformists is hardly worthy of you, considering that
you have had no sort of sympathy with either. You wiU have
as assuredly to go back from your present position about free
schools as you have had to go back from your old position about
county franchise. But you might have done this without
making union and co-operation with your friends impossible.
Excuse me for speaking frankly, but it comes to nothing less
than that. If you had had a firm opinion it might have been
different. I have tried pretty hard to make an eirenicon
between you and the Radicals, but I must give it up as a bad
job, and henceforth you and Jesse CoUings may fight it out
between you. You will be worsted.

To John Morley

November 8, 1885, Penzance. — Your note was but a sorry
greeting to me yesterday when we came here for two days'
rest. My view on Free Education is this. My judgment is
entirely against it except on the ground of the cost and trouble
of collecting fees. But the question is an open one ; and when
Harcourt, MundeUa, Lefevre and others are rushing to Chamber-
lain's side it must be permissible to state the engagements on
the other side. Twice only have I put the subject in my speeches.
On each occasion I found a prepossession in favour of what
Chamberlain had proposed, and on each occasion I influenced if
I did not sway the judgment of the majority. Then are my argu-
ments fair ? You complain of the reference to the League ; but it
was necessary to bring out the point. Unless Chamberlain is to be
above criticism utterances such as mine must be tolerated if the
people are to be led to judge the issue. I am afraid he and Dilke
have tried some of us very hard of late. It would be miserable
if any feeHng arose between us, and indeed this must not be. I
foresee the possibiHty or probabihty that I shall be an outsider.
If Goschen is to be taboo why may not I meet the same fate ?
But though your pains may thus appear to be thrown away,
please forgive what may appear to be waywardness. Even a
prosel5^e of the gate is not an enemy. Ever yours whatever comes.

XI THE SUDAN . 233

A third danger against which the candidate raised a
wamiiig voice was Fair Trade, which he met by the doctrine
that the welfare of the community must outweigh the
interests of a locality or a trade.

Journal

The Conservative candidate had been at St. Cleer a few
days previously and had told the miners that protective duties
would restore their prosperity. Our local friends urged L. to
counter this by promising at any rate the abolition of royalties.
I can still see the slightly scornful smile with which he received
this advice ; but he said nothing and we went into the meeting.
He began at once, " You have been told that a heavy duty on
Australian and foreign copper and tin would reopen your mines
and give you all employment and enable the men who have
gone abroad to return. (Breathless silence.) It is quite true.
But it would do something else." And then he described how
this country had a great industry in the manufacture of tin
goods for the whole world, and added " the duty you have been
offered would throw thousands out of work elsewhere while
it would put hundreds into work here. Knowing that, I should
be ashamed of my fellow-countrymen if they desired or would
accept it." The whole place cheered wildly, and I felt very
proud of my candidate and his poor constituents.

A still more threatening danger was the demand for
Home Rule, which at least 85 PameUites would probably
be returned to support. " There is a deep conviction in
my mind," he declared at Liskeard, " that Ireland wiU
interfere with some of the plans of the next Parhament.
Its first great business will be to answer the question. Shall
the Uriion be maintained ? " The Government had dropped
coercion and were toying with Home Rule. " I hope
there are hmits to the subserviency of the Conservative
party to its master-spirits," ran his Election Address, " but
the experience of recent months must have convinced all
men that the only safeguard of the Union is the return to
power of a Liberal Government strong enough to withstand
all combinations, and no less resolutely bent on developing
the loccil liberties of Ireland than on the maintenance of the
Legislative Union."

234 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, xi

The candidate spoke to S5anpathetic audiences on
Imperialism, Free Trade and Home Rule ; but his austere
individuaUsm was less to their taste, and his action on the
Medical Relief Bill was widely resented. ^ He solaced
himself with the newly published biography of Fawcett, as
stout an individuahst as himself.

To Leslie Stephen

December i8. — Your Life of Fawcett reached me in the midst
of my campaign. It arrived at a most opportune hour. One
of my difficulties was the opposition I had given to the Medical
Relief Bill, and I was about to speak on this subject among others
on the evening of the day when the book came. Naturally I
turned to the book, and in the exposition of Fawcett's views
and principles touching the redemption of the labouring poor
from the servitude they suffer I found my best defence. Now
we have lost the man there could not be a better work than
that you have done so well of keeping fresh his character in
the memory of those who knew him, and of making it familiar
to other contemporaries and to those that shall come after.
We are so infested with quacks, often sincere, that I am some-
times inclined to despair. I feel Fawcett's loss continually.
If Caimes and he were aUve now !

To restore the balance a certificate of merit was obtained
from Hawarden.

From W. E. Gladstone

I deeply regretted on more grounds than one Mr. Courtney's
resignation of his important office in the late Government, in
which his services were of high value to the country. But I
was and am sure that he did not by his loyalty to his conscience
intend any disloyalty to his party.

Despite his differences with Gladstone and Chamberlain,
Courtney was returned for East Cornwall by the substantial
majority of 1153.

^ Jesse Collings had taken the unusual course of writing a denunciation
of Courtney in the Cornish papers ; but during the Election the warm-
hearted man, seized with remorse, arrived uninvited at a village meeting
to support his candidature.

CHAPTER XII

HOME RULE

The result of the elections was no surprise to Courtney,
who had anticipated an overwhelming victory for Home Rule
candidates in Ireland. With his usual habit of looking
behind the representatives to the electors, he pointed out
that while only half of those entitled to vote and two-thirds
of those who actually voted supported Nationahsts, five-
sixths of the Members returned were NationaUsts. But the
careless public saw nothing except the eighty-six Home
Rulers, and spoke of the voice of five-sixths of the people.
The Irish Liberals, Catholic and Protestant, were left without
representation, and the island was delivered over to the
PameUites and the Orangemen. When the turmoil was
over he wrote to thank Gladstone for his aid and added a
warning against Home Rule, with which the Liberal leader
was reported to be coquetting.

To W. E. Gladstone

December 7. — The last member for Cornwall has been elected,
and the county returns seven Liberals to support you and no
one to oppose. Now that our triumph is complete I hope you
will forgive me if I send a word of thanks for the most valuable
letter you wrote on my behalf on the eve of our poll. What it
said must at all times have been most agreeable to me to read,
and at that juncture it was most useful. I grieve that the
majority throughout the kingdom has not been more decisive
and that the peril of which you spoke in your first speech on
arriving at Edinburgh cannot be said to be wholly removed.
The Government will be bound to try and work on, but they
can scarcely succeed, and some of their more sober spirits must

235

236 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

wish to be relieved of an impossible and ungrateful task. I
shrink a httle from speculating as to what may follow. The
present temper of our friends in the South-West is one of bitter
resentment at the malign action of the Irish party during the
election ; but apart from this, which may perhaps pass away,
there would be great reluctance to any legislation that would
expose the Unionists, whether landowners or not, to scarcely
veiled spoliation. A hostile tariff woiild be more endurable,
though that would excite great irritation. I have long feared
that Ireland might have to go through the discipHne of self-rule
as the only way of arriving at better things ; but the predominant
ideas of the leaders of the Irish party are so unsound that re-
actionary legislation in respect of trade and pauperism would too
probably reproduce much of the misery of the past. But this
might be suffered if only the fear of injustice could be removed.
It is not impossible that the Liberal party may find itself under
the necessity of appealing to the country to support a larger
measure of concession to Ireland than the country is for the time
prepared to approve, and may so be placed for a season in a
minority in Parliament. Pray excuse my writing thus freely
to you at this moment. I will even venture to send you two
articles which I wrote for an American review five years ago on
Ireland which I am tolerably certain you have never seen. I
cannot expect you to read them through, but there are parts
that may interest you even now.

From W. E. Gladstone

December i8. — Your letter reached me in due course, and I
am very glad to learn that mine was of use. I hope not only
that in these capricious times you may keep your seat in ParUa-
ment but also that on a proper opportunity your practical
abihties may again be enUsted in the service of the Crown and
country. I have now read your able papers ; but comparing
them with your letter I am not sure that they accord with your
present views. Indeed I am not very sure that I see what those
views are ; but I understand you may mean that the Liberal
party may have to take up the advocacy of a large concession to
Ireland in the matter of Government, and may have to suffer
a little martyrdom for it. From neither of these propositions
do I dissent. A great thing has to be done, the state of Ireland
permitting. But my first and great desire is that it should be
done by the present Government. Only a Government can do
it ; and a Tory Government, if endued with the requisite courage,
can do it best. Of this I make no secret.

XII HOME RULE 237

The day before this letter was written Herbert Gladstone
informed Wemyss Reid, editor of the Leeds Mercury, that
his father was prepared to resume office and to introduce a
Home Rule Bill ; and though a telegram from Hawarden
denied the accuracy of the statement, its cautious wording
left Uttle doubt as to the substantial truth of the momentous
communication. Two days later Courtney repHed to his old
chief ; and, while making no reference to the " Hawarden
Kite," he reiterated his opposition to Home Rule.

To W. E. Gladstone

December 19. — I am very much gratified with your letter
and your confidences, and cannot too strongly express my thanks
for them. As you intimate some uncertainty about my present
views, perhaps you will allow me briefly to explain them. I
still entertain to the full my belief of 1880 that Home Rule for
Ireland would mean bad rule — probably unjust, certainly unwise
and tending to material and social misery. But the situation
has materially changed. The demand for self-government has
developed in Ireland, and the representative machinery adopted
has given it exaggerated strength in the House of Commons.
Nevertheless, if I could have my own way and could rely on
stability of support from others, I should still refuse Home
Rule. I would begin by curbing the means of mischief of the
Irish representatives at Westminster, which I look upon as a
test of our national resolution in this matter. I would go on
to establish free county government, I would feel my way to
Provincial Conferences, and I would admit of Irish Grand Com-
mittees at Westminster ; and simultaneously with these I
would exert all the authority of the Empire to assure the dominion
of law in Ireland. But this programme requires stabihty of
purpose and steady maintenance to have any prospect of success,
and I sorrowfully confess that reliance cannot be placed on this
steadiness either inside or outside Parliament. Therefore I am
drawn to the apprehension I expressed in my last letter that
Ireland is doomed to go through the furnace of Home Rule,
though I should be very loath to have anything to do with
laimching the experiment. I am very glad to read that you
think the present Government should grapple with the question.
It cannot be our burden till they have proved their incapacity,
and they too may plead that Mr. Parnell shall distinctly formulate
his own demands. Frankly I do not think any Government

238 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

could undertake and finish the work now. Not until after some
violent oscillations and probably more than one dissolution is
it likely to be performed. Nobody has had such a job since
the time of Mr. Pitt, and it is sad to note the levity of those who
talk and write as if it could be done with a stroke of the pen or
a phrase of the tongue.

When his wife read his outspoken attack on the presumed
policy of the Liberal leader, she exclaimed, " Bang goes the
Chancellorship." His disapproval of the new departure
was shared by not a few prominent Liberals who afterwards
reluctantly accepted Home Rule, among them his old chief
at the Home Office.

Journal

December 23. — Sir William Harcourt told Leonard at the
Reform Club that he had been at a thanksgiving meeting at
Derby and gone from there to spend the Sunday at Birmingham
with Chamberlain. " You did not find him in a very thanks-
giving state of mind, I imagine," said Leonard. " No, indeed,"
was the answer. " After the first greeting it was nothing but
Damn ! Damn ! Damn ! all day long." " What a pious Sunday
you two must have spent," returned Leonard. Sir WiUiam is
kt present brave against Home Rule. How long this mood will
last it would be difficult to say.

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Courtney was not in
the least surprised by the sudden emergence of Home Rule
as the dominant issue of British poHtics. He had foretold
its coming, and he had long ago made up his mind to oppose
it. He was the author of the uncompromising leader in the
Times on July i, 1874, on Isaac Butt's celebrated motion.
" In manner and substance he was excellent ; but the argu-
ment completely failed to convince. The advocacy of Home
Rule is hopeless. His petition for an Irish Parhament flows
from his cardinal error that the inhabitants of Ireland are
a separate nation." In his first session he supported the
second reading of Butt's Land BiU to improve the position
of Irish tenants ; but when a speaker described it as a
measure of Home Rule, he rejoined that the more attention
the proposal received the greater would be the injury in-
flicted on an agitation which, if successful, would bring an

XII HOME RULE 239

immense amount of misery and wretchedness upon Ireland.
He supported the Bill as the best method of avoiding Home
Rule, since it would reveal a desire on the part of Parliament
to meet requirements and remove objections.

His views were first explained in detail after a visit in
1880 in two singularly frank articles in an American Review. ^
" The government of Ireland," he begins, " has once again
become a subject of perplexity to the Parliament of the
United Kingdom. It would seem that the unrest and dis-
satisfaction of the mass of the inhabitants are as great as
ever. Throughout half or more than half of its area meetings
are held week after week to demand the estabhshment of an
independent legislative authority, so far at least as regards
the domestic affairs of its people, and there are no gatherings
to be set against them. Mr. Pamell, though a Protestant
and a landowner, is now the most popular man in the country
because he has been the most persistent and effective enemy
of government by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
His eminence is a demonstration of a feehng of alienation
from Great Britain. Large masses of Irishmen still look
upon themselves as strangers, if not as enemies, to the
EngHsh."

After thus recognising disagreeable facts in language
which might have formed the exordium to an oration by
Isaac Butt, he passes to a defence of present-day England.
The passionate hatred of the past was only too easy to under-
stand, for we were humiliated by the story of the cruelties
and the injustice enforced or supported by our forefathers.
But had we not repented of all this ? Had we not done our
best to make amends for the past ? Surely there was a time
when Nature might be allowed to cover the battlefields of
history. Despite Glencoe, Scotchmen and EngUshmen had
long since agreed to dwell together in unity. Catholic
Emancipation, Disestablishment, Reform of the Land
Laws had followed in rapid succession. By slow degrees
all inequalities had been removed in the government of
Ireland. Yet it seemed that all this labour had been in vain.
For Conservatives the situation was comparatively simple.

^ The International.

240 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

If Irishmen were stUl irreconcilable, they must be ovemiled
like unreasonable children. For Liberals such language
was impossible, for they recognised the free vote of a nation
as the supreme determinant of its destiny. And yet even
if the demand for Home Rule were strong, steady and serious,
the experiment of setting up a local legislature could not be
entertained in view of the qualifications of the electors and
of those who would probably be elected. " A legislature in
Dublin would develop many virtues now existing in a
merely rudimentary condition ; and Home Rule never comes
before my mind with such plausibility as when I think it
might perhaps make Irish politicians grave, sober and
cautious. A sense of responsibility would be awakened.
Men would feel that they were being put on their mettle.
And Mr. Pamell is intrinsically a reasonable person." Yet
all evidence went to show that the most vicious projects of
national improvement would command assent, and that the
social condition of Ireland was not sufficiently healthy to
bear the strain of such experiments. No real statesman had
yielded to the cry, and no Member of Parliament except
Joseph Cowen, a chartered libertine, had favoured it. " The
language of Liberal leaders and Liberal followers has been
unequivocal and peremptory. They have declared that
under no circumstances would they consent ; and this
language undoubtedly corresponds to the will of the people
of Great Britain. But underneath this firm exterior there
must exist searchings of heart among some ; and it cannot
be surprising if Irishmen are found to hope that the vehement
refusal they now encoimter may hereafter be modified."

Why should not the Imperial Parliament establish a
subordinate legislature in Dublin if the great majority of
the inhabitants of Ireland seriously desire it ? In answering
this question we must first be sure that Home Rule is indeed
seriously desired. Yet a very large proportion of elected
Home Rulers were halting advocates of the policy, and the
movement for Home Rule was much feebler than O'Connell's
movement for Repeal, which collapsed with startling
suddenness. The danger lay in the fact that the Irish people
was ripe to receive and apply the wildest socialist dreams.

XII HOME RULE 241

" I confess that I recoil from this prospect. Even though
the demand for Home Rule were much more serious than I
estimate it, I should fixedly resist a change threatening the
gravest mischief to the immediate future of Ireland." All
the more must the Imperial Parhament deal with Land
reform, the one subject on which Irish complaints were
serious.

The articles are of historical as well as of biographical
interest as the confession of a thoughtful Liberal some years
before Home Rule became a question of practical politics.
The author has no fears for Ulster, for the Imperial connec-
tion or for the Protestant faith. His opposition arises solely
from his beUef that the Irish are unfit to manage their own
affairs. His hostility was confirmed by the agrarian and
other outrages of the following years ; but in the debates
and controversies which occupied and agitated the Parlia-
ment of 1880 he could take little part. He was neither a
Cabinet Minister, entitled to a share in the shaping of pohcy,
nor a private member at liberty to discuss it. He supported
a simultaneous policy of coercion and reform ; but he was
bitterly disappointed that the judicial fixing of rents under
the Land Act of 1881 was powerless to arrest the growth
of discontent. He constantly referred to Irish affairs in
speeches to his constituents, one of which brought a warm
eulogy from the well-known historian of Tudor and Stuart
Ireland.

From Richard Bagwell

Clonmel, February 8, 1883. — I have read your speech at
Liskeard, and it shows more real knowledge of Ireland than
any public man has lately evinced. So-called nationaUsm is
Janus Bifrons. With one mouth it demands separation, with
the other assimilation to England. The party of disorder is now
weak owing to the disclosures in Dublin. It is for this very
reason that I wish to urge the necessity of dealing with Irish
County Government. The Grand Jury system ought not to
stand a year longer. There is a good deal of ability and honesty
among Grand Jurors, but the system is past despair.

The suggested reform had to wait till 1898, and mean-
while the energies of the Government were monopolised

R

243 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

by the struggle with insurgent Nationalism. The critical
nature of the situation was brought home to him by a visit
to DubHn in 1883.

Journal

November 20, 1883. — Spent a week with the George Trevelyans
at the Chief Secretary's Lodge in Phoenix Park. Both very
kind and pleasant to us, but we found it rather oppressive Uving
in such a state of siege — odious for them it must be. Soldiers
and detectives guarding every step, even their small boy. Grand
dinner at the Viceregal Lodge ; quite a little bit of State cere-
monial. Lord and Lady Spencer very friendly. I do think
it is self-denying of them to be there.

Courtney would have resigned office in 1884 had there
been no Ireland ; but his detestation of single-Member
constituencies was intensified by his conviction that it would
bring Home Rule into the foreground of pohtics. " The
condition of Ireland is such as to fill me with anxiety," he
wrote in a prophetic article on Redistribution in the Fort-
nightly Review of January 1885. "It is quiet, thanks to
the operation of a most stringent Crimes Act ; but the
temper of discontent, not to say ahenation, breaks out
irrepressibly in the greater part of the island wherever there
is a chink for its manifestation. Into this country it is
proposed to introduce a machinery of election that wiU
represent to the kingdom and the world that nine-tenths of
its inhabitants are passionately demanding autonomy, if
not separation. The parceUing out of the island into one-
membered districts will result in the election of some ninety
Members claiming Home Rule, while ten or a dozen Orange
Tories are found alone arrayed against them. We know
that it wiU not truly represent the opinion of the country.
The Liberals of Ireland, who cUng to the unity of the Legis-
lature, are not what they were ; but they are still in the
aggregate a large mass, although they might fail to get a
single voice to speak for them in Parhament. What must
be the effect upon popular opinion in Ireland of the apparent
spectacle of three provinces and a large slice of the fourth
imanimously demanding Home Rule ? And what must

XII HOME RULE 243

be the effect upon popular feeling in England also ? We
may say with truth that the appearance is a gross mis-
representation of the fact ; but it will be a very hard struggle
to keep this distinction aUve in the minds of the Enghsh
people, especially if the vote of a large cohort in Parhament
may make it convenient for any party leader to pass it by.
Ireland in Parhament will be Ireland manipulated and
divided so as to exclude moderation of temper and judg-
ment. We are going to swell the clamour to which it may
hereafter be said that we must 5deld."

When Lord Sahsbury dissolved Parhament in October
1885 PameU, who had had a secret interview with Lord
Carnarvon, the Lord Lieutenant, and entertained Hvely
hopes of Lord Randolph Churchill, instructed Irish
voters throughout Great Britain to support Conserva-
tive candidates. Throughout the contest Courtney's
imagination was haunted by the vision of a Parnellite
triumph, followed by the capitulation of one or other of
the historic parties.

To Edward O'Brien {an Irish Liberal)

LooE, October 18. — Your letter has followed me here, where
I am electioneering. I am much preoccupied with Ireland, and
indeed it is always more or less in the background of my thoughts.
At present I am nearly given over to despair. The first thing to
be done is to drive into the heads of the Enghsh and Scotch people
the truth that though Pamell may get eighty-five per cent of Irish
members he has not eighty-five per cent of the Irish people. If
it is once accepted that there is such a proportion of separatists
in Ireland, the doom of the Union would be certain. I should
therefore rejoice very heartily if the opponents of separation
could register themselves by voting even when there is no hope
of returning a candidate ; but I fear it will be practiccdly im-
possible to stir up men to vote in the face of certain defeat. We
ought as soon as Parliament meets to press for the adoption of
rules that would secure the authority of the House over the
PameUites. They have won their position by their defiance of
Parliament, and I would give them their first throw in a wrestle
over this question. But even then more must be done. We
cannot now stop where we have stood. The late Government
had apparently agreed upon a National Council, which seems to

244 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

me open to most of the objections without some of the advantages
of a National Parliament. Lord Salisbury looks almost wistfully
at Federation, which he dismisses for the present. Mr. Childers
surrenders the pohce to some kind of Home Rule organisation,
and Lord Rosebery wants Home Rule though he scarcely dare
say so. No wonder Parnell is assured he will win.

The result of the election confirmed Courtney's darkest
anticipations. After Gladstone had vainly invited Lord
Salisbury to deal with the new situation, promising him
Liberal support for a generous measure of autonomy, he
resolved to tackle it himself. He was deeply impressed by
the sweeping triumph of the Home Rulers at the first appeal
to the country on a democratic franchise, and he was sick
of the futility of coercion. His colleagues and intimates
who knew that his mind had been moving in the direction
of Home Rule before the dissolution were prepared for the
announcement of a conversion which to hostile observers
appeared suspiciously sudden. The first impression in
Liberal circles was one of bewilderment, which was increased
by the discovery that the trusted leaders of the party were
hopelessly divided. Amid the welter of controversy and
suspicion Courtney had at any rate the satisfaction of know-
ing his own mind. His path might be painful ; but it was
perfectly clear.

To Miss Tod

December 30. — Those who have carefully watched Mr. Glad-
stone's utterances must have been aware that his mind has been
occupied with the possibilities of Home Rule for some years.
I am not surprised by what has happened recently, but I am not
the less greatly disquieted. I do not think that Home Rule
will be at once adopted. If Mr. Gladstone definitely puts it
forward, it would seem probable that the Liberal party will
lose such a section in Parliament and still more in the country
as to be in opposition for some years. Should this come to pass
we should have to fear that the party would be reconstructed
with Home Rule as a leading item in its programme, and that
sooner or later, and not very late, the thing would be conceded
out of mere weariness and England would suffer, but Ireland
would be nigh ruined. None of the checks that have been
proposed seem to be of any use I will not say none can be

XII HOME RULE 245

devised, but I have not seen any that could be trusted if Ireland
had one Parliament. Property, education, trade, pauperism,
the judicial bench, the police, — under each of these heads I see
unchecked danger. I should therefore simply resist as long as
I could, although in no sanguine mood. I would of course give
County Government (reserving the police) and I would establish
at Westminster Grand Committees for Irish business. Pro-
vincial assembhes might save you in Ulster, but would leave the
Liberals of Leinster and the South at the mercy of the popular
party.

The bitterness of the situation was enhanced for the
Unionist champions of Proportional Representation by the
total disappearance of Irish Liberalism which they had so
clearly foretold. From one of these virtually disfranchised
Irish Liberals came a cry of distress.

From the 0' Conor Don

December 20. — I think in writing to you last year I esti-
mated that the Irish representation would be about 85 Liberal
Nationalists and the remainder almost exclusively Orange Tory.
I know that some of my friends here at that time ridiculed my
forecast, and I was told that the Liberals in the North would
not only hold their own but increase their strength. Well, the
result now is that there is not a single representative from all
Ireland calling himself a Liberal, and the Tories in the North
are of the most pronounced Orange class. This is the result
of the single-seat constituencies without provision for minority
representation. No one that knows anjrthing about Ireland can
maintain that this is a true representation of the feeHngs of the
country. One necessary consequence of the present representa-
tion is that every Catholic who wishes to have any voice or
influence in the Legislature or government of the country must
join the Nationalists, and it seems to me that it will be next to
impossible to govern Ireland constitutionally against the will
of 86 per cent of the representatives.

To the 0' Conor Don

January 2, 1886. — No doubt our worst anticipations have
been reaUsed in the General Election, and it is grievous that we
should have piped to deaf ears ; but the practical question now

246 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

is how to prevent the mischief going further. I am not disposed,
whatever my fears, to give up the battle as wholly lost. We are
now under the temptation Gladstone foresaw and deprecated in
his first speech in Midlothian before re-election. If not abso-
lutely in a minority we are not in a majority without the Irish
vote, and the attraction of that vote is terrible. It is so easy
too to give a pretty colour to abandonment. If the Liberal
party is to maintain or the bulk of its members to assist in
maintaining the fight for the Union against Separation, they
will need the assistance the Liberals, especially the Catholic
Liberals of Ireland, can give ; and they can give much in speech
and writing if not in votes. We want moral strength, and you
can help us to be strong. I should Uke to see multipHed in
every form evidences of the forces teUing for Union which
will not be represented in the House of Commons. You need to
be instant about Grand Jury Reform. Would it be possible
to add on to County Government any scheme of Provincial
Assemblies ?

The opening weeks of 1886 were filled with nimours,
discussions and speculations. A few Liberal Members were
known to approve Home Rule, while Hartington and Goschen
were known to oppose it ; but the majority of the party
hesitated to commit themselves, unable or unwilling to make
up their minds on a subject of infinite complexity to which
they had devoted but little reflection. Courtney took no
public action for the present, and contented himself with
discussing plans for checkmating the enemy.

To Lord Hartington

January 15. — I have reason to believe that the Government
has had under consideration the following of Lord Grey's prece-
dent in 1833 in putting in the Speech from the Throne a declara-
tion to maintain the Legislative Union between Great Britain
and Ireland. O'Connell had told his followers that the Reformed
ParUament would give back to Ireland its Parliament, and this
was met by the King's declaration. O'Connell was very angry
and moved an amendment which was supported by thirty-four
Irish, five English and one Scotch. If the Government are
ready to challenge Pamell they could scarcely do better than
copy Lord Grey. They might fall immediately afterwards, but
they would fall with dignity and they would at least embarrass

xn HOME RULE 247

their opponents. I am more fully satisfied than ever that the
key of the situation lies in Reform of Procedure. If the two
sides of the House cannot lay aside party spirit enough to make
such a reform as shall secure the passing of legislation desired
by a great majority, the battle is already lost. We must over-
come Separatists in the House if we are to overcome Separation
in Ireland. Unless we are resolved on this, and can stick to our
resolution whatever outrages follow, the prospect is hopeless.

The new session opened on January 21. The Queen's
Speech contained no repudiation of Home Rule, and the
debate on the Address failed to provide the desired clarifi-
cation. Gladstone's speech was non-committal, Pamell
cautious and reasonable ; and Hartington, having no overt
challenge to meet, refused to make the outspoken declara-
tion against Home Rule which his more ardent followers
demanded. Mrs. Courtney, perhaps an even more ardent
Unionist than her husband, watched the debate from the
Ladies' Gallery, and heard nothing to her taste till on
the second day Mr. Arthur Elliot rose from behind the
Front Opposition Bench and entreated his leaders to lead.
Hartington, however, contented himself with summoning
Chamberlain and a few other friends to Devonshire House
to discuss Procedure. Before the meeting the host confided
to Courtney that his difficulty about opposing Home Rule
was that he could not see how the House could go on
with the Irish members in it, however stringent the new
rules of Procedure might be.

Journal

January 25. — L. comes home to dinner and is evidently
making up his mind to speak on the Irish question when it
comes on again a few days hence. He gives me a sketch of
what he would say, — rather leading men to consider the Home
Rule question in all its bearings than attacking it, as he is very
loath to put himself forward ostentatiously against Mr. Glad-
stone. He hesitates about going back to the House, but finally
goes. Comes back at 1.15 with astounding news. Government
nearly defeated on amendment proposing the three F's in farm
tenures. Lord Hartington, Goschen, Sir Henry James, Leonard
and seven other Liberals voting with them, while all the Opposi-

248 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

tion and the Irish support it. It is made known that Mr. Jesse
Coilings' amendment is to be supported by the whole strength
of the Opposition. It is understood that Mr. Chamberlain and
his party thus give their adherence to Mr. Gladstone's Home
Rule policy in return for his support of their socialistic poUcy.
If this comes about it is an iniquitous compact. The Govern-
ment may be beaten, but Mr. Gladstone must be discredited
with all honest pohticians who are not bhnd worshippers. The
real issue is Home Rule ; but the cunning old leader, not finding
he can successfully raise it, is going to catch the votes of his
followers on this and other matters and then, I suppose, squeeze
them gradually into his Irish views. I wonder how many will
stand out and lose their seats in consequence.

Courtney detested the Birmingham brand of " socialism "
almost as heartily as Plome Rule ; and he had no desire that
a party pledged to the one and likely to swallow the other
should return to power. When Jesse Coilings' amendment
to the Address was put to the vote he again supported the
Government, in common with sixteen other Liberals, among
them Lord Hartington, Goschen, Sir Henry James and
Arthur Elliot. No such momentous division had taken
place since the repeal of the Corn Laws ; for it inaugurated
a working alliance between the bulk of the Liberal party and
the Irish Nationalists on the one hand, and between the
Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists on the other. On
that night the lines were marked out along which British
poUtics were to travel till the outbreak of war in 1914.

Journal

January 27. — L. came home at 2.30 a.m. and told me all
was up ; Government beaten by 79, including 74 ParneUites.
He had voted with sixteen other Liberals against the amendment.
Rather depressed at the situation. Chamberlain triumphant !
It is a great success for him to have so rapidly converted Mr.
Gladstone to one point of the unauthorised programme. One
curious incident was that after ChapHn and other Conservatives
had attacked the Compulsory Allotment scheme, Mr. Balfour
rose at the very end and said the Conservative Government had
got the same scheme in their Local Government Bill. L. said to
Lord Hartington and Sir Henry James, " Under these circum-

XII HOME RULE 249

stances we might walk out " ; but Lord H. would not do this,
and L. did not like at the last moment to desert him. It would
have saved a good deal of trouble in Cornwall had he done so.

A few hours after the fatal division Courtney wrote to
one of his constituents to explain his vote. The letter
appeared not only in the press of the West of England but in
the Times.

To a Constituent

January 27. — I daresay some of my Bodmin friends may be
discussing my vote against Mr. Jesse Collings, and though I
think they will see I could not have voted with him, I should
certainly have conferred with them on the subject had time
permitted. You will remember how again and again during the
contest I said I should not support Mr. Collings' scheme. I was
not prepared to give compulsory powers of taking lands to let
again to local bodies until at least we had learnt by experience
how freely land could be got when landowners were relieved
from the fetters imposed upon them by the system of settlements.
All this was not9rious, and indeed when Mr. Collings came to
Menheniot I took care to tell the meeting that though he and I
were very good friends we had differed seriously, did differ and
probably should differ in future. How then could I join in
voting to turn out the Government for not putting into the
Queen's Speech proposals I said I could not support myself ?
All those who had voted for me on the faith of my declaration
would have justly accused me of deceiving them.

Letters poured in from East Cornwall, some of them com-
mending his fidelity to principle, others bitterly complaining
that on a vote of no confidence he had supported the Tory
Government, and warning him that neither time nor events
would erase the memory of his first votes in the new Parlia-
ment. The wrath of a section of Liberals was shared by the
leader of the party.

'Journal

January 30. — Tea with Dolly Tennant (later Lady Stanley).
She had been dining in company with Gladstone. She said he
was in great spirits and vigour, and among other things and
people Leonard was discussed. He was regretting the absence
of financial talent among the Liberals now. It used to be our

250 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

great distinction, he said, as compared with our opponents ;
but we have not an economist among us now. Dolly said,
" Oh ! but isn't there Mr. Courtney ? " " Mr. Courtney," was
the answer, " has the most remarkable financial head in the
House. His talents at the Treasury were beyond praise. But,"
he added angrily, " the other night he deserted me. There was
not the slightest necessity. CoUings' amendment committed
him to nothing. Courtney is one of the ablest men in the House ;
but he lacks the spirit of accommodation. He is full of crotchets.
He left me last year on a fad about Proportional Representation."

The Member for East Cornwall was well aware that his
vote on the Ceilings amendment had destroyed any chance
of office.^ and he learned of the formation of the new Govern-
ment from his friends. On January 31 he dined with
Chamberlain and sat next to Mr. Morley, who whispered to
him that he had been offered and accepted (with many
doubts as to his fitness) the Irish Secretaryship with a seat
in the Cabinet. The appointment was symptomatic, for
Mr. Morley was an avowed Home Ruler. He also learned
that his host had refused the Admiralty and accepted the
Local Government Board. Four days later the new Ad-
ministration was complete, aU the leading members of the
previous Liberal Ministry finding a place except Lord
Hartington and Sir Henry James. To the general surprise
Lord Spencer and Mr. Trevelyan accepted office in what,
despite the official formula that it was only pledged to inquiry,
was universally regarded as a Home Rule Administration.
Courtney's conception of the duty of Liberals was explained
to a friend who came to ask whether he ought to accept a
minor appointment in the new Government.

Journal

February 7. — L.'s view of the situation was that in all prob-
abiUty Home Rule was now inevitable, owing primarily to Mr.
Gladstone and in a lesser degree to the statesmen who have
joined his Government. He does not anticipate sufficient

1 " The Government was defeated last night," wrote Lord Esher.
" Hartington, Goschen, Derby, H. James and Courtney will have to
remain outside a new Government" (Journals, 1880-1895, 144).

xn HOME RULE 251

resistance in the House of Commons to prevent it passing. If
it does pass, the House of Lords would of course reject it and
there would be a dissolution. The country might reject the
Gladstone Government, but Home Rule being incorporated into
the programme of the party must pass within a few years ; and
those would be years of fierce agitation. To the question whether
a Liberal who beheved it would bring disaster on Ireland, but
also believed it was now fated to come, could join the Government
in a subordinate post L.'s answer was that he at any rate would
feel more comfortable outside.

On the following day he discussed the situation in a
letter to one of his oldest friends.

To H. J. Rohy

February 8, 1886. — I have not been asked to be Chairman
of Committees, but I think it possible I may be. I have not
been asked, and did not expect to be asked to take any other
post. Whether if asked I shall become Chairman I do not
know. My present inchnation is towards acceptance, the post
not being ministerial. I should be prepared to go a long way
on the Irish question if necessary ; but, holding that Home
Rule means increased social misery for many years with a most
doubtful and hazardous chance of recovery after a generation
or so, I was not prepared to give way without at least trying to
rule the House of Commons. It looks as if there is to be a sur-
render to the eighty-six, and indeed the motive of action avowed
by Morley at Chelmsford (and privately on many occasions) is
the necessity of getting the Irish representation out of the House.
This seems to me rather pitiable. However, Gladstone's action
has probably made that inevitable which was not so, and if not
in the present Parliament, then in the ParHament after the next,
say in six years. Home Rule wiU be carried. Accepting this, my
desire is that when carried it shall be in the form of a Colonial
Constitution, not a Federation. A Federation would perpetuate
friction, remonstrances, ill-will, as against which a hostile tariff
would be a cheap alternative. I beheve all Irishmen not Par-
neUites are in despair, and not a few PameUites are scared at the
prospect of getting what they said they wanted.

It was generally anticipated that Courtney would be
offered the post of Chairman of Committees. His know-
ledge of constitutional history and precedent was profound.

252 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

and he possessed a complete acquaintance with the forms
of the House. His resignation had made him available for
occasional service at the table ; and in the session of 1885
he often took the place of Sir Arthur Otway, when he was
too imwell to attend. Never lacking in self-confidence, he
employed the authority entrusted to him with the assurance
of an old Parliamentary hand. " One Friday night," wrote
his wife in her Journal, " he came home in great spirits,
having called half the House to order, including the Grand
Old Man. The Prime Minister took it very well, and
afterwards expressed his admiration to Mr. Rathbone."
Goschen, who shared the behef that the post would be
offered to him, expressed a hope that he would not tie his
hands in the coming struggle for the Union.

On February 16, Mr. Morley came to tell his friend that
the Prime Minister would only be too glad if he would accept
the Chairmanship of Committees. When the House met on
February 18 without any communication from Downing
Street, it looked as if he had changed his mind ; but next
morning the expected messenger arrived at Cheyne Walk
at 12 o'clock.

From W. E. Gladstone

Bearing in mind the communications between us at the time
when I failed to avert your resignation, you will not be surprised
when I say how happy I should have been to number you among
the members of the present Government. But an intimation
which reached me impressed me with the belief (I had also read
your printed essays on the Irish question) that you might find
obstacles in your way, while at the same time you would not be
disinclined to accept the important office of Deputy Speaker
and Chairman of Committees, for which you are (I think) univer-
sally considered to have unrivalled qualifications. I was doubtful
yesterday whether we should be in a condition to set up Supply
to-day, or I should have addressed this note to you before we
met in Parliament. Its object is to request that you will permit
me to propose to-day that you take the Chuir, and I am sure that
your assent will give just and lively satisfaction.

No time was allowed for consideration ; but as the
office was non- political and the Prime Minister's letter

xn HOME RULE 253

conceded freedom from responsibility on the Irish question,
the offer was accepted, and the messenger carried back the
response.

To W. E. Gladstone

I am extremely grateful for the very kind and flattering
words in which you invite me to be proposed to the House as
Deputy Speaker this evening. Had time permitted I should
like to have withheld my reply until I had an opportunity,
which perhaps you would have afforded me, of a few minutes'
conversation on the position of the Chairman and to have con-
sulted one or two intimate friends ; but any delay in decision
must now cause embarrassment not to be justified without
stronger hesitation than I feel. I therefore accept with sincere
gratitude your offer, relying on your kindness in the future as
it has been abundantly manifested in the past.

After despatching his reply Courtney called on
Hartington, who approved, and Goschen, who acquiesced,
and then hurried into his dress clothes. The acceptance of
the post removed him from the fighting hne. But though
unable to raise his voice in public protest against Home
Rule, his opinions were well known to his party, and his
opposition was not without influence on the wavering
throng. " In the early days of the short-lived Parliament
of 1886," writes Mr. Arthur Elliot, " the hearty support
given by Leonard Courtney to the cause of the Union was
of no smaU importance. His previous career and known
independence of character had made his personaUty and
attitude of mind famiUar to all who followed contemporary
poUtics. Having, according to his usual fashion, made up
his mind for himself, he took his Une boldly. In the early
days of Liberal Unionism he used occasionally to attend
Committee meetings and was at aU times much consulted
by the leading and active members of that party. But
having been elected Chairman of Committees, he held
himself to a great extent aloof from the regular organisation
and party work of Liberal Unionist Committees ; and he
rarely appeared at the office in Spring Gardens, the head-
quarters of combatant Liberal Unionism, or at Devonshire
House, where from time to time Lord Hartington used to

254 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

call the whole body of Liberal Unionist M.P.'s together for
consultation."

The opening weeks of the session were outwardly dull.
Every one was waiting for the Prime Minister to define his
Irish poUcy, and even Chamberiain held his hand till the
situation became clearer. Home Rulers and Unionist
Liberals, Birmingham Radicals and IndividuaHst Whigs,
continued to meet and to canvass the prospects of their
respective parties.

From Joseph Chamberlain to Mrs. Courtney

March 2. — I hope to present myself at your house about 4.30
on Sunday. I shall be happy to meet Lady Trelawny and still
more pleased to see you again, although you and your husband
are heretics and do not belong to the true Radical fold. You
ought to be guillotined both of you — ^but when the time comes I
shall try and save you.

Journal

March 7. — Chamberlain in the afternoon. Makes himself
very agreeable to Lady Trelawny. After she left he remained
talking in his very fresh way of the situation. He said every
one, including himself, was waiting for Mr. Gladstone's Irish
scheme. When it comes, as to the Tories opposing it success-
fully, they must turn more than one hundred constituencies.
" And public opinion on the Liberal side ? " said I. " The
caucus is public opinion," he said ; " and if you ask me what
public opinion will do, I tell you frankly that for once I don't
know." He judged the new House to be a thoroughly good,
businesslike one as well as immensely radical, and appealed to
Leonard if the former was not so. L. replied, " Yes, they don't
make long speeches, but I can't say it is a well-informed House.
Most of the new Members seem quite unprepared with any other
side of a question." Mr. C. answered, " They are as well in-
formed as they need be. They have been sent to do certain
things." Decidedly Mr. Chamberlain sees forces rather than
principles in politics. He also said that he felt sure the English
democracy would not be influenced in their judgment as to
Home Rule by any care for the landlords or for the rights of the
Protestant minority ; but they might have the feeling the
North had in the war for the msiintenance of their Union.

XII HOME RULE 255

Though decUning to address his constituents before the
production of the measure, Courtney explained his views on
the Irish question in the April number of the Contemporary
Review. He dismissed at the outset one of the popular
arguments against Home Rule as a baseless fear, confessing
that he anticipated no danger to Great Britain. Peril
threatened Ireland alone. The rights of landowners might
be safeguarded against direct confiscation ; but in industry
and commerce, education, the professions, the judicature,
pauperism and pubhc expenditure, bad legislation would
be inevitable. A slow and by no means uninterrupted
renovation was in progress ; but that process had now been
checked. Home Rule became practical politics on the day
that the Redistribution Act received the Royal Assent.
The return of eighty-six NationaUsts was a formidable fact,
and it was rendered the more formidable since the House
f^ed to defend itself against them by a reform of Procedure.
Both parties were to blame for the position. Mr. Gladstone
had brooded for yeajrs over the possibiUties of Home Rule ;
and the carelessness of the Conservative Government in the
previous summer was inexpUcable, except on the theory
that its leading spirits had arrived at the conclusion that
the victory of Home Rule was assured. At the moment of
writing. Home Rule was not yet ofiiciaUy adopted as a
plank in the Liberal platform ; but no party could continue
to have two opinions on such a subject, and, once adopted,
it would survive a first disaster, remain the rallying-cry of
the party and ultimately become the symbol of victory.

If Home Rule was perhaps inevitable, should its
opponents abstain from active opposition, and, after
registering their protest, take their share in framing the new
constitution ? There was something to be said for such a
course. For instance, the simplest plan would be to con-
cede a separate tariff — the privilege of every colony — and
exclude the Irish members frcim Westminster. If Home
Rule was to come, let it come in the form of colonial self-
government. The right of maintaining Imperial garrisons
would remain, and Ireland would be poor in everything
save men. Should Protestant Ulster be cut off from

256 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Nationalist Ireland ? If so, the situation of Unionists in
the rest of the island would be more desperate than ever.
The sacrifice of minorities must be faced in any case, and
the smallest number would be sacrificed if Ulster continued
to be represented at Westminster. Some representation of
minorities might be secured in the Irish Upper House, if
not in the Lower. After an elaborate discussion of the
machinery of Home Rule, the author ends, as he began,
with a bitter lament. " Let the Irish party be ever so
loyal ; let it be scrupulous to protect the claims of those
whom it has most in aversion ; let no occasion of dispute
arise over the terms of settlement with Great Britain ; yet
I conceive the change must operate to put back Ireland in
the path of advancement. Surveying its future, I feel
nothing but anguish at a retrogression, the recovery from
which, once accompUshed, must be long delayed, if, indeed,
it should ever be reahsed." The article was sent to Lord
Hartington, who warmly approved its arguments.

From Lord Hartington

March 20. — I would certainly recommend you to publish it.
I do not see that its pessimist tone is any objection to publication.
I entirely agree with the pessimism as to the results of Home
Rule. Perhaps I do not go so far as you do in anticipating it
as inevitable ; but the best hope of averting it is to put before
people clearly what Home Rule really means, which I think you
have done far more completely than anybody.

The first sign of the coming cataclysm was the resigna-
tion of Chamberlain and Trevelyan, the latter of whom
remarked to Mrs. Courtney that five-sixths of the Liberal
party were ready to follow any strong man who would give
a lead against Home Rule. " The defection of friends,"
wrote Lord Acton from Cannes to Mrs. Drew, " strengthens
the enemy's argument ; and that is already strong for any
one who is not sound in the Liberal doctrine, a thing beyond
Liberal poUcy. The concentration of everything in your
father's hands is appalling, because one cannot see what
the future is to be hke. His old weakness — the want of an

XII HOME RULE 257

heir — ^is very serious now. I did not think very well of the
new Government, and I like it less now. I very seriously
regret Trevelyan's resignation. Lefevre is a loss. So I
think is Courtney." ^ The introduction of the Home Rule
Bill on April 8 dispersed the cloud of speculation which had
covered the pohtical arena since the Hawarden kite was
launched. The first act of the great drama has been
described by a hundred pens ; but we may once again
survey the historic scene from the Ladies' Gallery through
the spectacles of an ardent Liberal Unionist.

Journal

April 8. — I go to the House of Commons to hear Gladstone
introduce his Home Rule Bill. Members were there at seven in
the morning, engaging places, and chairs were placed all up the
gangway. When Gladstone entered the House he had a great
ovation from the Irish members and below the gangway. He at
once rose and began a speech which lasted three hours and
twenty-five minutes — a marvellous feat for a man of seventy-
seven. It was a very dramatic scene, and at times his eloquence
nearly carried me away, and made me think whether after all
this Home Rule scheme would not make all Irishmen happy
and contented and good citizens ; but by this morning I have
come back to a soberer judgment. One good thing is that the
Bill is not whittled down, but stands out as a pretty complete
measure of separation, which is far better than some half measure
which neither frees England nor satisfies Irish aspirations.

April 9. — Chamberlain made a most damaging speech against
the Bill, which, however, he weakened by giving a rather crude
alternative scheme for Federation which was flouted by the
Parnellites and fell rather flat. Lord Hartington was simple,
honest, free from any personal bitterness, and very effective
against the Bill. Mr. Morley answered in a speech which was
nervously delivered, and conspicuous rather for its gloomy fore-
casts of what would happen if Home Rule were not granted than
for any sanguine anticipation of its good results.

April 13. — Last day of debate. An amusing speech from
Sir W. Harcourt, full of wit and personalities, but with no attempt
to defend a single provision of the Bill. Goschen follows, argu-
ments weighty, manner awkward, and voice rather croaky.

^ Letters to Mary Gladstone, 175-76.

258 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

About midnight Gladstone rises and delivers the most eloquent
speech I have heard from him. It made one feel that no one
comes near him in oratory — voice magnificent and style very fine,
but arguments often very dishonest to my mind.

Three days later the Prime Minister introduced the Land
Bill, and his Irish policy was now fully before the country
for acceptance or rejection. After a short but sharp con-
flict the National Liberal Federation rejected the appeal of
its Birmingham founder, and by an overwhelming majority
decided to obey the call of the veteran Prime Minister.
The Liberal rank and file throughout the country followed
its example. Courtney's reflections on the Bill and the
situation were set forth in a letter written at the beginning
of the Easter recess.

To H. J. Roby

April 20. — I look upon the future of Ireland, supposing
Gladstone's Bills were to pass, as one of deepening misery. The
economic distress which is the sting of the present situation would
increase. John Morley dined quietly with my wife and myself
on Sunday evening, and I did not find that his view of the future
was appreciably different from my own. He holds more clearly
that it is inevitable, and that the Irish must be got out of the
House of Commons. I am not much more sanguine, but I would
go on trying on the old lines, although it is very hard to entertain
any confidence that the Conservatives under Randolph Churchill
would not sell us. I think if we could know Hartington's inmost
mind we might see that he was as little removed from me on one
side as Morley is on the other. Then as to the Bills — will they
pass ? The Home Rule BiU may be read a second time by a
small majority, but will apparently perish in Committee. Although
Chamberlain is chagrined at his apparent want of power, there is
no real rapprochement between him and the Government. He
makes the retention of the Irish members at Westminster in-
dispensable, and the Government have not the least intention of
conceding that. Morley would go out and not alone even if the
Old Man himself was willing, which I do not beheve, to entertain
the concession. And if the Bills fail, what is to happen ? Diffi-
culty in Ireland of course ; perhaps violence in the House of
Commons. But can one without a struggle abandon a third or
a quarter of Ireland to the tender mercies of the other two-thirds
or three-fourths ?

301 HOME RULE 259

After sectional meetings and an address to his followers
by the Prime Minister at the Foreign Office, Chamberlain,
Trevelyan and Bright resolved to vote against the Bill.
The original Whig dissentients such as Hartington and
Goschen would not have been strong enough to throw out
the measure ; but the defection of the Radical group sealed
its fate. Throughout these anxious weeks Courtney felt
himself debarred by his official position from speaking ; but
he rejoiced to discover that so influential a section of his
party shared his dislike of Home Rule, and would assist
him to defeat it. The second act of the Home Rule drama
has been described as often as the first, but we may watch
it once more from the Ladies' GaUery.

Journal

June 8. — ^At last the long deferred day for the second reading
has come. How will it go ? Guesses range from a majority of
six for to a majority of thirty against, the prevalent opinion being
a very small majority against. Goschen began in a speech full of
good argument, but Leonard thought it ineffective. He was
followed by Parnell in a most able speech, full of tact and modera-
tion and assurances to the Irish Protestants of the welcome they
would get in the Irish Parliament, and with a distinct statement
that in the autumn a Conservative Cabinet Minister had offered
him a statutory Parliament in Dublin with power of protecting
Irish industries. When he sat down I went to dinner with L.
in his room, and we thought the evening's debate was telling
against the Unionists. Mr. John Morley, whom we met in the
lobby, said it was strange that even now no one knew how the
division would go. After dinner Sir Michael Hicks-Beach
delivered a rather plain, heavy speech, enlivened by a duel with
Parnell about the alleged offer of Parliament and Protection by
a Conservative Minister. Parnell got up and repeated his state-
ment emphatically. There were loud cries of " Name," and to
a challenge from Randolph and Hicks-Beach Parnell answered,
" When his colleague gives me permission I shall be glad to do so."
At last came the Old Man's speech, as vigorous as ever and in
beautiful voice, but it was a losing speech. He chaffed Cham-
berlain about his alternative schemes. " The Right Honourable
Gentleman might well say that a dissolution had no terror for
him, for he has set his sail to catch a popular breeze from any

26o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

quarter." A very eloquent peroration, magnificent in general
principles and prophesying victory in the future if not in the
present. The question was put amid great excitement. We
thought from the faces of the Treasury Bench when the Whips
came in that victory was with the Opposition ; but to my surprise
the munbers were 311 for, 342 against, with 93 Liberals in the
majority. Then followed a scene. After the cheers of the
Opposition had subsided, the Irish rose en masse and waved and
cheered like madmen ; and some one calling out " Three Cheers
for the Grand Old Man," they were given. They were followed
by groans for Chamberlain, and the Irish stood up and hissed at
him hke wild cats, and then made the same fiendish noise at the
Ulster members — a queer comment on Parnell's affectionate
words to them. Mr. Gladstone got up and moved the adjourn-
ment till Thursday, when he would state the course the Govern-
ment would pursue. Walked through a crowd of excited people
with Leonard and Henry Hobhouse, and was rather glad L. was
not recognised, as there were some Irish among them who were
talking of lynching Chamberlain if they caught him. As Henry
said, he was the hero of the hour. How the Irish hate him !

Parliament was immediately dissolved, and the Liberal
Unionists hurried away to their constituencies, uncertain of
the reception that awaited them, though well aware that it
would be a stem fight. Mrs. Courtney was indefatigable
on the platform,^ Miss Tod presented the case for Irish
Unionist Liberals at most of the meetings, and Mrs. Fawcett
rendered valuable aid. Bodmin was unfriendly, but Lis-
keard, with longer personal associations, stood by its mem-
ber. When the delegates of the Liberal party declared
against the sitting member by 58 to 8, and appointed a
Committee to select another candidate, the Conservative
Association rallied to his support. His Election Address
was wholly devoted to Ireland, for which he prescribed
county self-government instead of Home Rule. In reply
to the taunt that he had entered public life under Gladstone's
auspices, and then turned against him, he referred to his
frequent denunciations of Home Rule at a time when it
was rarely mentioned by other pohticians. That his meet-
ings should often be disturbed was inevitable in that dark

* In 1886 and 1892 Courtney's duties in the Chair prevented him from
taking bis full share in the work of electioneering.

xir HOME RULE 261

hour when Liberals turned their swords against one another ;
but the candidate said nothing to inflame the passions of
his hearers. " I hope that whenever the name of Mr.
Gladstone is uttered," he declared at Saltash, " it will be
received with honour. I do not know what was in his
innermost mind, but Home Rule was certainly not in his
programme." On the eve of the poll the candidate described
the novel situation in which he found himself.

To Mrs. Fawcett

July 4. — You may have noted the vicissitudes of our opposi-
tion. There is a strange admixture of the ridiculous in the present
situation ; but the working men are so thoroughly Gladstonian
that the adverse poll will be fairly large. As a man said at the
close of a village meeting last night, " Mr. Courtney is quite right.
I agree with all he said. It would never do to have a separate
Parliament in Ireland ; but Mr. Gladstone has been the friend of
the working man and we must stand by him."

After a strenuous campaign Courtney was elected by an
increased majority of 1653. The ParneUites maintained
their numbers. Seventy-eight Liberal Unionists were re-
turned to help Lord Salisbury to hold the fort against Home
Rule ; but Scotland, Wales and the north of England stood
by the Liberal leader.

CHAPTER XIII

CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES

When Lord Salisbury was returned to power at the General
Election Courtney was reappointed Chairman of Commit-
tees. The attractions of the post outweighed its dis
advantages. He was indeed debarred from the unfettered
expression of his opinions on every topic ; but on the other
hand it gave him a dignified position, and nobody questioned
his capacity for the duties which he was appointed to
perform. Under existing circumstances the post offered an
additional attraction. Mr, Birrell has named the House
which met in 1886 " the uncomfortable Parliament," since
the Gladstonians and Liberal Unionists sat cheek by jowl
on the front Opposition bench, while thundering against
each other on the dominant issue of the time. Courtney
was not the man to shirk the consequences of his vote on
the Home Rule Bill ; but he was not sorry to find himself
sitting at the table and in the Speaker's chair, " above the
battle." 1 Opinions differed as to the merits of Courtney's
political convictions and conduct ; but there is an almost
unprecedented consensus as to his services to pubhc business.
The most experienced of observers pronounced him a bom
Chairman of Ways and Means ; and Gladstone's high
opinion was confirmed by further experience.

From William Rathhone, M.P. {to Mrs. Courtney)

May 19, 1887. — I dined with Mr. Gladstone last night and I
am sure you would be gratified if you had heard the way in

^ When the Speaker was in the Chair Courtney sat on the Front
Opposition Bench ; but he was an official of the House, not a party chief.

262

CHAP, xm CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 263

which he spoke, with the full assent of all present, of the way in
which Mr. Courtney had done his work as Chairman of Committees.
He Scdd he had seen a great many Chairmen but never yet one
who came up to Mr. Courtney ; that the prompt way in which
he seemed to strike at once what ought to be done, and the clear-
ness with which he stated his points, was something wonderful.
Harcourt and several other Members of Parliament were there,
and all agreed with what he said ; and I am sure that you, as a
good wife, will like to hear when so much abuse is going about
that somebody is found who can be praised.

Gladstone's verdict was shared by his followers. Lord
Morley pronounces him " incomparable." " I have known
several Chairmen of Committees," records Dr. Farquhar-
son ; ^ " but nothing could exceed Lord Courtney for prompt
decision and absolute integrity and impartiaUty." " In
spite of his strong political opinions," writes Mr. Herbert
Paul, " he was the embodiment of absolute impartiality.
He would not ever consent to any of those arrangements
about the order of speakers in debate which Whips some-
times make with the Chair. The moment he took his seat
at the table he seemed to forget that he belonged to any
party, and he always recognised that the minority were
entitled to the fullest consideration at his hands. The
Chairman of Committees, though technically invested while
he occupies the Chair with the same authority as the
Speaker, does not enjoy the same commanding position
and has in some measure to depend upon his own personal
influence and weight. Lord Courtney's decisions always
found acquiescence because they were at once perfectly
lucid and obviously fair. The judicial turn of his mind
may have sometimes diminished the interest of his speeches.
It certainly increased the value of his rulings." " During
these six trying years," echoes Mr. Burt, " Mr. Courtney
acquitted himself admirably, and members often remarked
that he would make an ideal Speaker. He had indeed all
the quaUfications requisite for that great position. A
slight personal incident in connection with Mr. Courtney's
Chairmanship may be mentioned. In one of my infrequent

^ The House of Commons from Within, p. 1 24.

264 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

incursions into the debates a line of poetry came to my
mind. I paused a moment, remarking that I did not know
whether I durst venture to quote poetry ' with you, Mr.
Courtney, in the Chair.' Casually meeting him a short time
afterwards, he asked, I thought somewhat sternly, what I
meant by sajdng that I was not sure that I dared quote
poetry under his presidency ? Taken aback a Uttle I said
that it certainly had never occurred to me that he would
not appreciate poetry, but as we were discussing finance I
thought he as Chairman might not consider poetry relevant,
or regard Wordsworth as an authority on such a subject.
His genial smile showed that my impertinence was forgiven
and that all was well between us." The Irish wing of the
Home Rule party regarded the Chairman with equal
approval and confidence. " His action was sometimes
very peremptory," records Justin M'Carthy, " but he was
absolutely impartial and he won the respect of everybody."
" Time has dulled my recollections of scenes and faces,"
wrote Mr. Thomas Sexton in 191 1, " but I have still two
vivid memory-pictures of Westminster — Mr. Gladstone at the
table and Mr. Courtney in the Chair." Mr. Swift MacNeill ^
recalls how an Irish Nationalist, stung by the speaker who
preceded him, paused in his speech and had actually begun
a rush across the floor of the House to attack the maker of
the provocative speech. " Calmly rising from the Chair
Courtney asked the honourable member, out of regard for
the Chair, to restrain his feelings. The effect of the appeal
was magical, and was met by an apology to the House."

The chorus of eulogy is swelled by the voice of an ardent
Liberal Unionist. " The Chairmanship of Committees,"
writes Mr. Arthur Elliot, " though less dignified than the
Speakership, is not a more easy place to fill. The dignity
and authority are less in men's eyes. Action has to be
taken and important decisions given almost on the spm-
of the moment without that deliberation and taking coimsel
that are almost always possible to a Speaker. In Committee
on a Bin, or on the Estimates, it is impossible that the same
rigid formaUty should be observed as on a full dress debate

1 Pall Mall Gazette, May i6, 191 8.

xiii CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 265

or a second reading or a vote of confidence. Quickness of
perception as to the effect and tendency of proposed amend-
ments, firmness of decision, constant and closest attention,
and the determination to give an equal hearing to all sides
are the principal qualifications for a good Chairman ; and
in all these respects Courtney excelled. Speaker Gully
once said to me after several years' experience that he had
never felt the very slightest inclination to turn towards his
own political friends as such ; but that he had felt it neces-
sary to guard himself against allowing his desire that the
House should get on with business to induce him to restrict
the liberty of the Opposition or of independent members.
Generally speaking, as he said, the Government side of the
House wants to get through business and the Opposition
does not ; but the Chair is independent of the Ministry
and has, whilst maintaining order, to protect the minority
and individual members in the exercise of their rights of
ample criticism and debate. Now Courtney was by nature
the friend of the weak against the strong, the opponent of
arbitrary power, the friend of individual independence ; so
that whilst he occupied the Chair there was little danger
that a tyrannical majority would be suffered to abuse its
rights and trample on the freedom of criticism which is the
privilege of aU members aUke.

" Courtney in the Chair was no respecter of persons, as
he showed again and again. When it is remembered that
during his Chairmanship the recasting and enforcement of
new Rules of Procedure came into effect, that the Preven-
tion of Crime Bill, the Pamell Commission Bill, and other
measures and proceedings of the Government were made
the subject of prolonged and embittered controversy, the
House of Commons has reason to be thankful for the patient,
tolerant and liberal spirit that distinguished the conduct of
the Chair. In those days doubtless there were many who
would have been better pleased if he had been less patient
with * Obstructionists,' and had made the Chair a more
subservient instrument of the Ministry of the day. In
granting or refusing the closure he would act wholly with
regard to the judgement he had himself formed as to its

266 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

expediency in the interests of the House itself and of freedom
of debate. Whether it was called for by a powerful Minister
of the Crown or a member of Uttle importance would affect
his decision as little as the social standing of two Utigants
would affect the judgement of a Judge of the High Court
of Justice. If he erred at all in the strictness with which
he would enforce rules and call men to order, it would be
out of leniency to those who perhaps knew no better, while
to men who had no such excuse he would be more rigid.
Now that the heats of those days have passed away there
are probably few who do not recognise that his Chairmanship
during the strenuous years 1886-1892 helped much to main-
tain at a high level the invaluable parhamentary tradition of
Order and Free Debate." Against these testimonies must
be set the complaint of some Conservative members that he
allowed too much latitude to the Liberal Irish benches.^

No Speaker or Chairman of Committees is infalhble ;
and if he were he would not escape criticism. Courtney's
peremptoriness, which struck Justin McCarthy and some
other observers, at times kindled sparks ; and a rebuke to
the Leader of the House on one occasion seemed to not a
few observers sharper than the situation demanded.

Journal

May 1887. — I hear and read all sorts of flattering things of
him and am beginning to think it is time to utter the warning
cry, " Take heed when all men speak well of you ! " He dis-
tinguished himself by refusing Mr. W. H. Smith the Closure.
The House was sitting all night, and Mr. Smith proposed the
Closure on a whole batch of amendments. L. singled out two
which he thought deserved short discussion, thus making his
own precedent. The Irish were so delighted that they dropped
the others at once and allowed a division to be taken on the
exempted ones after a very short discussion. The Conservatives
were disappointed at first, but seeing the resiilt was a quick
despatch of business were more cordial than ever next evening.
A few days later he distinguished himself by calling Gladstone
to order in the middle of a wrangle between the two front benches
and making him sit down.

^ See Sir R. Temple, Letters and Character Sketches from the House of
Commons, p. 169.

xm CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 267

The refusal of the closure to the Leader of the House
was an example of the right thing done in the wrong way.
" I remember Courtney's abrupt shake of the head without
words," writes Mr. Arthur ElUot, " and the flush that came
over Old Morality's plain and honest face. It looked Hke
a great snub to a most modest and unassuming man. I
am sure it was not so intended ; but it was clumsily done,
and Smith's friends were very angry. A few words in
refusing would have removed aU offence. One or two little
things of the sort told a little against his popularity as
Chairman." On the death of the Leader of the House in
1891 Courtney gave his own version of these passages of
arms. " I often found it my duty to decUne the closure
which he found it his duty to ask. Perhaps I was wrong.
Perhaps he was wrong. I do not think, however dis-
appointed he was at times at finding his motion rejected,
he ever cherished any resentment. Never for one moment
was the cordiality of our relations abated. He dreaded the
abuse of the weapon he had to use. Perhaps he at times
found consolation in the fact that the Chair was constrained
to reject his motion, because he was urged all too frequently
by his followers."

The Chairman also came into sharp conflict with the
Home Rulers when, on February 28, 1890, he suspended
Labouchere for persisting in accusing Lord Salisbury of
telling lies. The Opposition at once threatened to challenge
his ruUng on the ground of undue restriction of debate, and
two days later Mr. Morley called at Cheyne Walk to convey
a friendly warning. Next day Gladstone gave notice of a
motion that a Member of Parliament might contradict a
Peer — a platitude for which the Chairman of Committees
declared himself ready to vote. The Leader of the Opposi-
tion then asked for an interview with the Chairman, but
no result was reached. Gladstone seemed to be waiting
for Courtney to make some proposal which would enable
him to withdraw his motion, while Courtney, secure in his
conviction that he had acted rightly, waited for the enemy
to open fire. " You are very intimate with Courtney,
are you not ? " remarked Gladstone to Mr. Morley after the

268 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

conversation ; " don't you find him rather costive ? "
Courtney was equally dissatisfied with the meeting, and
remarked that he had never had a really satisfactory
interview with the Grand Old Man. The Chairman's
unrepentant attitude was not without its effect, for the
attack was abandoned.

Though Courtney enjoyed his dignified position, he often
thirsted for his old Hberty ; and at the end of a year he
explained to his constituents the self-denial involved in the
discharge of its duties. " I am a non-combatant in our
army ; and sometimes the suspicion occurs to me that it
may perhaps be an inglorious retreat in which I have
ensconced myself. I have never greatly coveted the distinc-
tion, and I may now reveal the fact that I declined the post
in 1882. Nor do I hold myself so wedded to it that I
cannot contemplate the time when I should wish to resume
more active poUtical hfe. A Chairman of Committees is
not absolutely disqualified from engaging in general
debates ; but any strong expression of opinion would
diminish his authority, and on burning questions it would
be indiscreet and almost impossible." In spite of strong
temptation he set a guard on his Ups ; and his views on
current politics were reserved for the electors of East
Cornwall.

The short session of 1886, mainly devoted to Supply,
kept the Chairman of Committees busy in London through-
out August and September ; but he was in good spirits, and
some week-end visits provided welcome relief.

Journal

August 21. — Go down to Sir John Lubbock's at High Elms
for Sunday. Mr. Chamberlain and his son Austen join us at
Victoria. Hot fine Sunday. L. spends it reading all day on the
lawn. Sir John very fond of his young trees which he discusses
with Mr. Chamberlain very eagerly. He shows us his ants also,
some of which he has had twelve years watching. His keen
interest about so many things is truly wonderful, and I have no
doubt it is a great relief when politics go wrong to leave the House
of Commons and go down to High Elms and devote himself to

»n CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 269

his ants and other creatures that always do right according to
their appointed natures. Mr. Chamberlain is evidently much
disgusted with politics at present and very bitter against
Gladstone.

Before starting for a well-earned holiday Courtney
despatched one of his periodical bulletins to his old friend
in Bombay.

To John Scott

September 22, 1886. — At length we are on the eve of a hoHday.
We start for the Rhineland, resting at one or two less frequented
cities such as Worms and Spires, as well as Cologne and Heidel-
berg, and then crossing Switzerland descend upon North Italy —
a day or two at the Lakes, Milan, Verona, Venice. When this
reaches Bombay we ought, I think, to be still at Venice. We
have been there together, have we not ? But to my wife, who
has echpsed us both in having visited CaUfornia and the Second
Cataract, Italy is a terra incognita. I will not go into detail
after Venice, but Florence, Arezzo, Rome are points on which
the mind rests. Fancy Arezzo to Rome — Caponsacchi and
PompiHa flying through the night ! At the end of two months
we shall be back in London — I hope not immersed in the fogs of
nature and the Currency Commission.

We have had a great experience since I wrote last, the
experience of the General Election ; but though that act is over
the end is not yet, nor do I foresee the conclusion. Like Lord
Falkland I ingeminate peace, but with little better prospect of a
quick or good result. As long as the Old Man Hves Home Rule
will be the question of division, and the longer he lives the more
is it Ukely to be confounded with the Liberal party. His personal
influence has precipitated a struggle which, if successful, threatens
Ireland with measureless misery, and which, unsettled, plunges
the affairs of the whole Empire into confusion. There is great
temptation to unavaiUng anger in contemplating the situation.
The first battle got well over, the Conservatives having risen to
the occasion and responded well to the Liberal Unionists ; but
it is almost too much to expect them to maintain the same
attitude next time, and we may then see the Liberal Unionists
squeezed out and no Liberal candidates left but Home Rulers
to fight Conservatives. In this way Home Rule may come to be
the one subject of division between the only two parties of the
State. The Conservatives will ask themselves whether they are
.not strong enough to put in members who are thoroughly with

270 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap

them ; and the Liberal Unionists themselves, having to put the
Union before everything else, will on successive issues find them-
selves fighting side by side with the Conservatives and end by
being nearly indistinguishable from them. Hartington is, of
course, the most conspicuous example, and so it may come to
pass that next time there is an election in Rossendale the Con-
servatives will elect a man of their own unless he by that time
becomes one of their own. My own position is not wholly dis-
similar, except that I cannot conceive myself under any
circumstances falling into the Conservative ranks. Many Liberal
voters, as well as Liberal members, will, however, become Con-
servative under the strain, and so the Conservatives may succeed
in obtaining a pure majority. This is a sufficiently lugubrious
anticipation, and what some suggest as an alternative, though it
may offer an escape for the individual, is worse for the country.
It is that Randolph ChurchiU will in a year or two get his party
to concede Home Rule in some shape or other, after which there
would be a resettlement of parties on some other question. You
will see I am not hopeful.

You will understand that the Chairmanship of Committees
affords a comparatively quiet resting-place. Its duties are
necessary and useful, and I think I discharge them as well as
most ; but it may be doubtful whether it is not a little inglorious
to retire upon them. It would be more heroic to die fighting,
and perhaps when the fighting comes I shall have to put aside
my office and descend into the arena. Hartington has come
unblemished through the business on the one hand as John Morley
on the other. The Old Man in his last pamphlet may have con-
cealed from himself, but scarcely from others, the impression of
having by partial revealment and partial concealment adroitly
led on his followers as he desired. Of the said followers some of
the more democratic, carried on by catchwords of self-government,
are honest Home Rulers, beUeving in Home Rule. Others, while
not conceahng from themselves the tremendous mischiefs that
follow, think that they are now inevitable and silently support
what they cannot prevent ; some catch up Home Rule as they
would catch up anything Gladstone proposes and they think
will win.

The Italian tour was prolonged by his wife's illness in
Rome, and the travellers only reached home on December lo.
At this moment the political world was thrown into confusion
by the capricious resignation of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer.

xiii CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 271

Journal

December 23. — I was packing up to go down to Bournemouth
to spend Christmas Day with Father when Leonard came running
upstairs calUng out " Kitty ! Kitty ! " in great excitement.
" Well, what is it ? " " Resignation of Lord Randolph Churchill."
It came like a thunderclap on most people, and it was said even
the Cabinet had no idea of it. We found Father very eager about
it and full of hopes that Lord Hartington would join Lord
Salisbury's Government, as it is said he has been invited to do.
L. shakes his wise head over the affair, thinking that another
blow has been given to the Union. There was a great storm
ending in snow the day after Christmas Day, which broke all the
telegraph wires between us and the Continent, so it was unknown
for some days where Lord Hartington was, and as all eyes appear
to have turned to him, there was great suspense in political circles.
Then came Mr. Chamberlain's speech in Birmingham, offering the
olive branch to the Gladstonians and suggesting Liberal reunion.
Before leaving town we had dined with the Morleys, and Mr.
Morley mentioned incidentallythat hehad hada very friendly letter
from Chamberlain, the first for nearly a year. He added, " Mind,
whatever you hear about other people, I shall stand firm to my
guns," which we took to mean that he would not accept any
modification of his Home Rule policy.

On returning to London after Christmas Courtney found
a melancholy letter from Goschen, who was at the moment
without a seat.

From G. J. Goschen

December 27, 1886. — How will the Unionists stand in the
course of a week or two ? and what will be the effect of Cham-
berlain's overtures, as I read them, to the Gladstonians ?
Churchill's resignation, followed by Chamberlain's speech, seems
to me to deal a heavy blow at the Union which it will be extremely
difficult to parry. I have no idea what Hartington's course
will be.

Lord Hartington arrived from Rome on December 28,
and two days later he summoned his friends to Devonshire
House, where Courtney argued that if the Liberal Unionists
joined the Government the remainder of the Liberal party
would be irrevocably identified with Home Rule.

272 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To Arthur Elliot

December 31, 1886. — I had a long talk with Hartington
yesterday and saw him again this morning. He saw Lord SaUs-
bury this afternoon, when the crisis will probably be settled as
far as we are concerned. The Tory rank and file kick, and
Akers-Douglas says he could not whip up the men for Hartington.
This may be somewhat exaggerated, or it may be said in Ran-
dolph's influence ; but it is enough to prevent a Coalition. I
remain as in July against a Coahtion. If the Government can
possibly scramble on, they must, the Liberal Unionists giving
them outside assistance. If they cannot — a thing to be proved —
Hartington may be asked by the Queen to form a Government
and he might then essay a combination, but not till the extremity
has arrived. For I look upon this as our last Hne of defence.
Whilst we are aloof we do keep the Liberal party from organising
as a Home Rule party ; but if the Liberal Unionists and the
Conservatives join in a Government the Liberals throughout the
country would shake themselves together. There would be only
two parties, and the Liberals would some day return to power as
unchecked Home Rulers. It is with this view that the Grand
Old Man would (I have reason to know) like Hartington to form
a Government so as to clear the Unes of division and simplify the
situation, and it is this view that I am against, as I think most
of our friends are. I do not conceal from myself that the neces-
sity for a Coahtion may arise. Sahsbury's cry to Hartington has
made the Government weaker than it need have been, and the
mind staggers at the prospect of W. H. Smith leading the House ;
but this dire necessity — ^the uttermost — ^is not yet.^ Randolph
may go back : he is convinced, I am told, he has made a great
mistake ; or without going back he may try not to be nasty.
Hartington himself is perhaps (or was perhaps) less averse to
Union than some others. The ways of our Joseph are dark.

The atmosphere was charged with electricity, and
Courtney possessed the advantage of being in touch with
both sections of the Liberal party.

Journal

December 31. — We dined with the Morleys, meeting Sir
W. Harcourt, who was in great spirits and full of chaff. He

1 Courtney afterwards learned to value the solid qualities and business
capacity of the new Leader.

xin CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 273

asked L. what office he had accepted from Lord Salisbury, adding
that he could tell by the " about-to-save-his-country " expression
of his countenance that he had joined.

The crisis was quickly solved by the appointment of
Goschen as Chancellor of the Exchequer and of W. H.
Smith as Leader of the House. But a feeling of insecur-
ity remained, and the alliance between Conservatives and
Unionists was too recent for either wing to feel complete
confidence in the other.

To John Scott

January 3, 1887. — We got back on the nth December. I
saw Randolph Churchill about Procedure and some other matters
he proposed to take up in the coming session, and he appeared to
have settled down to hard work in harness. I was as much
surprised as the rest of the world when he resigned. The true
reading of this transaction seems to be that he has overreached
himself ; he offered resignation as the alternative to getting his
terms, making sure that he would get them ; and to his astonish-
ment he did not. It is added he is much disgusted at being out.
As to the motive of his disagreement with his colleagues he is
trying to put the best face on it, and I fancy that on most of the
questions of difference he has taken the right side, not so much
because it was right as because he thought it would win — his
game being always to win and to win quickly. If he has tried
to keep in by following good counsels and by impressing good
counsels on his colleagues, he got in by appealing to every vulgar
prejudice and densest ignorance against good counsels. The
effect of his going out may, however, be very serious.

January 5. — Goschen has joined the Government. This is
the first effect of Randolph's resignation, and though he has
joined as a Liberal Unionist it is almost inevitable that he should
slip into being a Conservative. It is said he has joined under
Hartington's pressure or command ; perhaps it would be more
correct to say with Hartington's concurrence. One dominant
consideration was that it was almost impossible to find him a
seat anywhere. Another effect that may, I think, be traced to
Randolph's resignation is a very dubious attempt on Chamber-
lain's part to effect a compromise with the Gladstonians. This
ought to fail because I do not believe Gladstone will budge an
inch from his position, and reconciliation would therefore mean
complete surrender on Joe's part, which would be so unlike him
as to be almost incredible. But he may knock under rather than

T

274 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

be out in the cold indefinitely. I don't like this coquetting as
I object to Hartington's joining the Conservatives, because I
deprecate above all things our public men settling into two and
only two parties, so that Liberalism shall mean Home Rule and
Anti-Home Rule shall mean Conservatism. If that came to pass.
Home Rule would soon be passed. I am not sanguine in any case
about being able to prevent it permanently. Gladstone has made
it terribly hard, and the strain upon public virtue is excessive.
Not every man will go on fighting a battle he knows to be lost,
and accepting defeat with a consciousness it means annihilation.
You will be glad to know that Dicey is doing good work in the
controversy. I see the contagion of Home Rule is extending to
India as we knew it must. How you on the spot must groan
over the premature encouragement to foolhardiness. I don't
fancy this trouble will become serious in our time ; but the
working-man voter with his large generosity when he has no
interest would think no more of giving up India than of giving
up Ireland, not caring to inquire seriously what would be the fate
of either when abandoned. You will hke to know that amid all
political vicissitudes John Morley and I remain as close friends
as ever.

On the day that Churchill's resignation was announced
Chamberlain had delivered a speech at Birmingham which
led Harcourt to propose a friendly discussion between
Liberal Unionists and Home Rulers. The five chiefs met
at Harcourt's house, and for a time the discussions pro-
ceeded harmoniously ; but the negotiations were broken
off by Chamberlain, who was stung by outside attacks
into an outburst against " disloyal " Irishmen. The only
concrete result of the meetings was to shake the faith of Sir
George Trevelyan.

Journal

Sir George is apparently seized with such a passion for
Liberal Reunion that he talks about the differences that separate
the Gladstonians and Liberal Unionists being purely imaginary.
One would hke to know how the situation has changed since he
left Mr. Gladstone last year. The secrets of the Round Table
must be well kept if there is so much change as all that in the
views held by the guests. We are rather nervous about what he
will say at Liskeard at our demonstration. Will he be a second
Balaam ?

xnr CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 275

Sir George's speech at Liskeard gave evidence of the
coming change ; but the balance was redressed by a full-
blooded Unionist oration from W. S. Caine, who httle
suspected that he too was destined to re-enter the
Gladstonian fold. The real hero of the occasion was the
sitting Member, who dealt with the division within the
Liberal party. " I do not expect reunion," he declared,
" but I wiU do nothing to stop it. It is for the Home
Rulers to return to us, for it is they who have gone astray."
" It is a pleasure in this flabby generation," commented the
Spectator, " to read such words. We have sometimes
thought and occasionally said that Mr. Courtney was too
confident in his own judgment ; but there are times when
that capacity for being certain is the necessary condition
of resolution to do one's duty. It is manliness, not without
its touch of stubborn defiance, that Unionists now require."

At the opening of the session of 1887 the Government
announced the renewal of coercion ; but before introducing
the Crimes Bill, they proposed and carried a new Standing
Order providing that debate might be closured with the
approval of the Chair and the support of two hundred
Members. As he had been in consultation with Ministers
on the subject, Courtney stepped down from his pedestal
and gave his blessing to the change. The new weapon
was employed to carry the First Reading of the Bill. A day
or two later the Speaker fell ill, and the Chairman took his
place during the long and stormy debates on the Second
Reading. The House sat late, and the Deputy-Speaker
often arrived home at three, four or five in the morning.
It was a period of great physical and mental strain ; but
Members were glad to feel a strong hand on the reins. He
was on friendly terms alike with Conservatives, Liberal
Unionists and Home Rulers, and men who fought each
other at St. Stephen's fraternised in the mellowing atmo-
sphere of Cheyne Walk.

Journal

We have a very interesting party consisting of Mr. Arthur
Balfour, Mr. John Morley, Mr. Russell of the Liverpool Post

276 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

(afterwards Sir Edward Russell), Mrs. Fawcett, and Beatrice.
They all stay till nearly twelve, and the talk is deUghtful. Mr.
Balfour and Mr. Morley get on famously and agree about much,
especially in their comic descriptions of their respective front
benches. Mr. Morley is full of stories about the Grand Old Man,
and describes how both he and Harcourt think the other speaks
too often. Mr. Balfour seems to have quite a liking for some of
the Irish, especially Dillon.

Before adjourning for the Whitsun recess the Chairman
of Committees, accompanied by W. H. Smith, Gladstone
and Hartington, followed the Speaker in procession from
the Palace of Westminster to St. Margaret's, where Bishop
Boyd Carpenter preached the Jubilee sermon. He again
walked in procession with the Speaker to the Jubilee service
in the Abbey on June 21, and sat between him and Gladstone
close to the Sovereign ; and on the following day the distin-
guished guests of the nation assembled at the most brilliant
reception the Foreign Office had ever witnessed. A week
later the Queen gave a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Journal

The Queen walked round through a long deep lane of her
guests, leaning on a stick and bowing continually in answer to
their salutations, — a sort of half bow half curtsey she makes in
a very old-fashioned-looking style. When she came opposite us
Lord Mount Edgecumbe pointed out Leonard as the Chairman
of Committees, when, to our astonishment, she hobbled up and,
very deliberately making a curtsey opposite him, said, " You
work very hard, Mr. Courtney," which I thought very nice of
her.

The review of the fleet closed the official ceremonies ;
but people were in the mood for entertaining, and the
Chairman spent week-ends with the Farrers at Abinger,
the Lubbocks at High Elms and the Grant Duffs at Twicken-
ham. While, however, the British Empire was junketing,
Ireland was suffering and sulking, and Parliament was
busily occupied with the Crimes Bill.

xm CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 277

Journal

July. — Leonard has stormy times and long hours in the Chair ;
but he keeps wonderfully well. He has become an extraordinary
favourite with the Irish members, who treat his ruUngs with the
utmost respect and show their liking for him in many ways, — one
a very odd incident when they claimed on the Estimates that he
should have a house provided at Westminster instead of " trudg-
ing home in the early morning to Chelsea." There are several
shindies. Once Mr. Healy ife suspended for offering to wring
De Lisle's neck just behind the Chair ; but still he bears Leohard
no malice. Another time he again behaves outrageously in
threatening to throw slops in Mr. Balfour's face if he ever had
to empty them in prison. Leonard also intervenes several times
in debate to propose some way of getting through business in
words of a moderating character.

The session dragged on throughout August and the first
half of September, and ended with an explosion on the
fracas at Michelstown, which supplied the text for innumer-
able Home Rule orations and perorations during the autumn
recess. October was dedicated to his constituents, who
were informed that their member fully approved both the
Crimes Act and the closure by which it was carried. The
Act, he explained, was merely a new machinery for punishing
what was already punishable ; and since local juries were
too timid to convict, there was no alternative to the Govern-
ment plan. The outlook as a whole, however, was by no
means promising. The results of judicial rents were dis-
appointing, and he had no great belief in the newer policy
of land purchase. The most urgent need of the time was
the reform of county government, with the provision for
the representation of minorities. Early in November, his
duty done, Courtney left London for a tour in Sicily. Before
starting, however, he sent an urgent warning and exhortation
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, then deeply engaged
on the Bill which was to be the principal measure of 1888.

To G. J. Goschen

November 4. — I am off for Sicily in the morning, but I am
moved to send you before I go a word about Local Government,

278 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

especially in England. How do you mean to secure representa-
tion— a voice — the power of argument and remonstrance to
minorities ? This is more important than ever in Local Govern-
ment. The right administration of the Poor Law never can be
popular. Some guarantees that your local bodies shall contain-
representatives of all sections who shall not always be in peril of
dismissal are essential. Single-membered seats will not secure
this. Pray realise from the history of Gladstone's Home Rule
campaign how inferior are the defences of single seats in securing
the representation of independent judgment. Under a system
of representation of minorities there would have been Home
Rulers returned in Great Britain before Gladstone raised the cry ;
but he would not have been able to carry with him that great
array of waverers, who, knowing all was lost unless they followed
him, consented to adopt his policy though detesting it. Now
I do pray that we do not in a happy-go-lucky blind way repeat
this terrible error in new schemes of Local Government. All
the best Conservative— in the best sense — elements of EngUsh
society are here in peril ; all the slowly won principles of Poor
Law administration in jeopardy. You cannot rely on ex officio
seats nor on plural voting. They are both in violent antagonism
to the dominant ideas of the present ParHamentary electorate
with whom the decision must be. A democratic system without
the infusion of privilege is inevitable. But the representation of
all minorities is a thoroughly democratic idea. Bradlaugh is as
strongly in favour of it as Lord Salisbury can be. Of Mill and
Fawcett I need not speak, but I can say that democratic audiences
in all the big towns have accepted it. Try either the cumulative
vote of the School Board or the Single Transferable vote, or any
other plan you like.

The session of 1888 opened quietly, new rules of pro-
cedure, in the framing of which Courtney had been consulted,
being carried without difficulty. Ritchie's Local Govern-
ment Bill met with general approval and astonished Liberals
by its far-reaching provisions. Nobody except its author
was more interested in its character or fate than the Chair-
man of Committees,^ who welcomed another opportunity
of urging proportional representation and who joined Sir

1 " One of his monumental achievements in the Chair," wrote Mr. Lucy
(now Sir Henry), " was the smooth, business-hke passage of the Local
Government Bill. Except the Minister in charge he was probably the
only man who thoroughly grasped the hourly changing aspect of this
stupendous measure." — Cornish Magazine, Sept. 1898.

xin CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 279

John Lubbock in arranging a test election in the House.
He had advocated the reform of county administration for
many years, and he deHvered his first important speech in
the Salisbury Parliament on the Second Reading.

Journal

April 16. — Go to House to hear L.'s speech. Most earnest
and eloquent, one of the best he has ever made. A plea for
Proportional Representation in county elections. He made an
evident impression, uphill work as the subject is, for men's eyes
seem blind. Mr. Chamberlain followed with a speech full of
shallow sneers, — a great dramatic contrast which was also felt.
Lord Hartington and W. H. Smith both speak to Leonard about
his speech and express a wish that his system might be tried ;
but I fear they will hardly have the courage to do it without
more pressure than the present state of public opinion will give.

Accepting the Bill as an excellent beginning, he pro-
phesied that the County Councils would gradually assume
further responsibilities, such as the control of education
and the Poor Law. Their financial powers also seemed
to him too circumscribed. But the great blot on the
measure was the absence of proportional representation,
which was essential in local no less than in national elections,
and only less needed in England than in Ireland. The
speech impressed every one who heard it and drew cheers
from the Strangers' GaUery. " I have never heard a long
debate," wrote Sir Richard Temple, " in which the speakers
were so uniformly competent. Mr. Courtney criticised the
electoral portions of the scheme, and urged with impas-
sioned earnestness the principle of which he had been an
enlightened advocate. As an oratorical effort this was the
best of the many good speeches made in the debate." ^
Mrs. Courtney sent a copy of the speech to the ^American
Ambassador, James Russell Lowell, who was not less
interested in questions of political machinery than in
Uterature, and who replied that he always read Mr. Court-
ney's speeches because they were addressed to the reason
of his hearers.

1 Life in Parliament, i886-i8gy, pp. 192-3.

28o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

The Whitsun holiday of 1888 was spent in Holland and
Belgium. At a stall at a fair in Dort the travellers picked
up a Dutch version of Aurora Leigh in white vellum, and on
their return presented it to Browning, who was unaware
of the existence of the translation.

From Robert Browning {to Mrs. Courtney)

June 15. — Your most kind and greatly valued present was
received with so much surprise as well as gratitude that I thought
of examining it a Httle more leisurely than I have been able to
do before reporting about it to the generous donors. That may
come after, however, and I will say at once how thankful I am
for your kindness. It happens curiously that the day which
brought me your present brought also a French (MSS.) trans-
lation of the same poem.

Though the session of 1888 remains memorable for
the creation of County Councils, far greater interest was
aroused at the moment by the fierce battle between Pamell
and the Times. The publication on April 18, 1887, of a letter
virtually approving the Phoenix Park murders signed by the
Irish leader had provoked an instant repudiation of the
" villainous and barefaced forgery." The great journal
refused to withdraw and in the following year produced
some more letters of a similar character, which were in turn
indignantly repudiated. Pamell desired that the question
should be referred to a Committee of the House from which
Irish members should be excluded. The Government,
however, decided to appoint a special Commission of three
Judges to investigate not only the authenticity of the letters
but the charges and allegations against Pamell and his
colleagues made by the Times in its articles entitled " Par-
neUism and Crime." In other words, a Unionist tribunal
was nominated by the Government to pronounce judgement
on a great pohtical movement, and the Attorney-General
appeared for the Times. The passing of the Act — with the
aid of the closure — creating the Court led to repeated
" scenes," which required all the tact of the Speaker and
the Chairman of Committees to keep within bounds. The

xm CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 281

value of Courtney's services wera generally recognised, and
the faithful Gladstonian, Stuart Rendel, described his im-
partiality as the one bright feature of the session.

Journal

One of the most furious debates is over the Royal Commission
to inquire into the charges in the Times. A special scene between
Parnell and Chamberiain. In the midst of it all we have a small
dinner, asked before the row, which gives us some anxiety.
Mr. Chamberiain, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Buckle, a Gladstonian M.P. —
Mr. Munro-Ferguson, and the Hobhouses. We get on very well.
Mr. Chamberiain rather attacking Leonard as usual. " Courtney,
I want to ask you a question. If I fired a revolver across the
floor of the House, what would you do ? " " My dear Cham-
berlain, it would not be across the floor of the House that you
would fire," says Mr. Balfour. " No, the ball would glance,"
was the reply.

On his usual autumn visit to his constituents Courtney
naturally devoted his main attention to Ireland. The
Crimes Act of 1887, he declared, had worked well, and the
country was more orderly ; but policeman's work was never
enough, and County Councils should be created as soon as
possible on the new English model. The Parnell letters
were discussed with a cool detachment rare among Unionist
orators. The Irish leader should have gone to the Courts
directly the letters appeared, and the creation of a Special
Commission was equally a mistake. The Government should
have left the matter to the ordinary processes of law, and not
have taken sides. But Parliament had lost its head. " The
scenes in the debates on the Bill were most painful and most
prejudicial to the authority of the House." The importance
of the letters had been enormously exaggerated. If the most
celebrated letter was genuine he should not think much the
worse of the writer. " A man might write such a letter
without in the least being accused of compUcity in or appro-
bation of murder." If Parnell was proved to be its author,
his character for veracity would be gone and he would be
ruined ; but the question, however it was answered, had no
bearing on the merits or demerits of Home Rule,

282 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

The State Trial opened on October 22, A long array of
witnesses told of riots, outrages and murder ; but nothing
was revealed that was not already known to students of the
Irish problem. When the letters were reached in February
the exposure of Pigott and the flight and suicide of the
forger blunted the effect of less dramatic revelations. The
Report of the Special Commission was ready on February 13,
1889. " There was a scene of wondrous excitement,"
relates Justin M'Carthy, " when the first bundles of the
Report reached the House. Members were too impatient
to wait for their distribution. The bundles were simply
flung upon the floor in the inner lobby and were scrambled
for by the Members." ^ The Judges found that the Irish
Members were not collectively engaged in a conspiracy for
independence, but that certain Nationahsts inside and out-
side Parhament desired separation. None of the defendants
had paid people to commit crime, but some of them had
excited to intimidation. The letters attributed to Pamell
were forgeries. The Report was a virtual acquittal, and
when the Irish leader walked to his seat the House broke
into loud acclamations. While zealous but unwary Unionists,
headed by the Prime Minister, had greedily swallowed the
charges against Parnell and had pressed them into the
campaign against Home Rule, the Chairman of Committees
had nothing to recant. But the discomfiture of the Times
struck a damaging blow at the Unionist cause and filled Home
Rulers with new hope. Courtney had never felt very con-
fident of the ultimate victory of the Union, but the un-
certainty made no difference in his action.

To Sir W. Trelawny
{Chairman of the L.U. Association in S.E. Cornwall)

No one wiU dissent from your opinion that the present position
of Liberal Unionists is one we would not wish if we could help it.
The only question is whether it is not an unpleasant necessity.
At the same time it is not without some compensations. The
Conservatives have been drawn and are daily being drawn to
promote measures they do not naturally like, and we are able to
^ History of Our Own Times, i88o-i8gy, p. 270.

xm CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 283

strengthen all that is progressive amongst them and to neutralise
all that is reactionary. So far there is a distinct public gain, and
without any compromise of our own views and opinions. The
time may come when we shall be unable to turn the balance and
we may have to reconsider our situation, but that time is not yet.
On the other hand I can see no sign of Mr. Gladstone retreating
from the position which made us withdraw from him in 1886.

It was hardly to be expected that the Government's
motion to thank the Commissioners for their labours would
satisfy the House as a whole ; and the Leader of the Opposi-
tion moved an amendment asking the House to protest
against the wrong, suffering and loss endured by the victims
of calumny. A more explicit condemnation of the Times
for publishing forged letters was placed on the paper by
Louis Jennings, the faithful henchman of Randolph Churchill.
For this amendment Courtney intended to speak and to vote.
Indeed he had almost made up his mind to move such an
amendment himself, hoping the Government might accept
it from a friend, but he was dissuaded by Lord Derby.
Before Jennings could speak Churchill took the wind out of
his sails with a vigorous condemnation of the Government;
and Jennings, though deUvering his own speech of censure,
refused to move his amendment in disgust at his leader's
action. It was thereupon moved by Caine, and supported
by Courtney alone of Liberal Unionists. Two Conservatives
joined him in the Lobby, while several abstained, and the
majority fell to forty. Lord Curzon later told Mrs. Courtney
that half the Conservatives were in favour of some such
amendment, and expressed his opinion that if the Chairman
of Committees had moved it they would have voted with
him. " My vote expressed the views of many who did not
vote with me," declared Courtney to his constituents, " and
I was strengthening the Unionist cause by helping to free it
from the suspicion of partiality and injustice." But while
repeating his condemnation of the reckless creduUty of the
Times, he added, " I know Mr. Walter weU, and there is no
man of more unimpeachable honour."

During the Easter recess the Chairman reviewed the open-
ing weeks of the session with less reserve in a private letter.

284 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

To John Scott

April 3, 1890. — We have had a short time up to Easter and
have really done as much in it as could fairly be expected. Supply
is further on than usual and several bills have been read a second
time. We have indeed abundance of work before us. Balfour's
Land Bill will occupy a long time and the Tithe Bill is not a
trifle ; but the prospects are not bad. Even the India Council Bill
may be put through in spite of having to wait upon matters which
may be of less importance but in which the British public is more
interested ; that will depend very much upon Bradlaugh. If he
wants to have it passed he can probably hmit the talk over it so
as to get this done, and I daresay he would be satisfied with it as
an instalment. But his health and energy are not what they
were. This may also be said of the present Parliament or at least
of the opposition within it. The persistent fighting mood has
disappeared. It is not dead but it is dormant. Business is
pretty brisk up and down the country. Ireland itself is a little
quieter. Except as regards bye-elections the storm of battle is
adjourned. Many are ready to interpret this lull as the calm
before an immediate dissolution, and I don't look upon a dis-
solution in July as an impossible contingency. No one can
venture to predict what the result of a General Election would
be. Bradlaugh was doubtless right when he told you the Liberal
Unionists would be squeezed out. The sitting members who
stand again may have good chances, but it is very hard for
new-comers. To return to the temper of the House it is a curious
illustration of it how little we have missed .Hartington. His
continued absence would be an enormous peril and I was anxious
as to what might happen in these few weeks before Easter ; but
no occasion for his intervention has arisen. The only difficulty
was during a very brief hour over the Commission Report, and
that passed off as quickly as it came.

While Courtney's official position debarred him from an
active share in party politics, it left him free to expound
his views on social and economic problems in other quarters.
His distrust of State socialism and of short cuts to prosperity
increased with their vogue, for he was anchored to the
principles of self-help in which he had been reared. At the
annual meeting of the Charity Organisation Society he gave
utterance to the " few sturdy words " for which Mr. Loch
had asked. The people, he declared, should be taught that

xni CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 283

the remedy for most of the evils from which they suffered
was in their own hands ; and he never lost an opportunity
of preaching this unpopular gospel to the adherents of a
softer faith.

To a Correspondent

February 10, 1887. — I am obliged to you for sending me a
copy of " The Acres and the Hands." I am always disposed to
demur to anything that may betray hasty readers to think that
a permanent radical change in the condition of the people can be
made by a change of laws without a change of character. You
might aboUsh entail and settlement, leases and underleases, and
admit of nought but estates in fee simple ; and you would effect
no real abiding elevation of our countrymen unless you brought
about at the same time a conviction of persongd and social
obligations providing a self-control without which all legislative
boons are transitory benefits. I would have this insisted upon
in all popular teaching.

In his academic utterances no less than in his political
speeches and private correspondence Courtney proclaimed
the gospel of hard work and self-help. In an address to
the Political Economy Circle of the National Liberal Club
in April, 1888, on " The Occupation of Land," afterwards
pubhshed in the Nineteenth Century, he argues that nothing
but good use justifies possession of land, and that imperfect
use justifies dispossession. If good use is secured it matters
little whether the holder be an individual or the State. A
good occupier deserves every protection and encouragement.
The rigid lease gives both too much and too little. The
three F's of the Irish tenant — fair rent, fixity of tenure, and
free sale — should be extended to England. But even they
do not guarantee good use of the land ; and there should
therefore be an impartial authority to supervise and where
necessary alter the relations of occupier and owner. " My
object is the liberation and encouragement of those who are
working for themselves. I am not for helping the weak.
I wish to remove impediments, to help those who are help-
ing themselves."

An address on " The Swarming of Men," dehvered at
Leicester in January, 1888, repeated at Toynbee Hall, and

286 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

published in the Nineteenth Century, covered wider ground.
" We may see myriads of men rush into being ; thronging,
pressing, spreading wherever a point seems vacant of Ufe,
and then again passing out of being whilst new m3niads
swarm upon their traces before they have well disappeared.
How this cloud of being comes and goes ; why this spot is
darkened with the thickening mass, whilst that other is
covered with a thinner veil ; in what way the moving
particles of the stream of humanity contribute to shape its
course and volume — these are the speculations I would
fain pursue. The great migrations which have swept over
Asia and Europe are now at an end ; but their modem
equivalent, the industrial migrations, is only another
variety of the struggle for existence which forms the main
theme of human history." Beginning with his own country
the lecturer recalls how the nine milUons in England and
Wales in 1801, the date of the first census, had grown to
twenty-eight milUons ; how the greatest increase occurred
in the first half of the century ; how the proportion of town
to country dwellers had advanced ; how provincial cities
had waxed even more rapidly than London ; how trades
enrich or desert a given centre ; how immigration, emigra-
tion and facilities of locomotion affect the balance ; how
Scotland exhibits much the same result ; how Ireland out-
grew her resources in the first half of the century and saw
her population drift overseas in the second. Extending
his glance beyond the British Isles, he reveals Scandinavia
and Germany throwing off swarms of emigrants to North
America, and Italians thronging to South America. Within
the United States we trace the same migrations from
East to centre and from centre to West in search of wider
opportunity.

On concluding his survey the lecturer summed up its
lessons in a strain of philosophic eloquence. " The spectacle
we have been pursuing is but a study with reference to man
of that constant struggle for existence to which the great
philosopher of our time has traced diversities of the forms
of life ; but the quantity of any species of brute life is
maintained at any moment up to its fullest capacity of

xin CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 287

existence. Can it be pretended that the cup of human
existence must always thus be brimming over ? We count
the individual man at least master of himself. His sense of
responsibility can be awakened, his conscience vivified and
strengthened ; and the over-conscience of the multitude
is born of the consciences of separate men. If it becomes
part of the universal conscience to look before and after ;
if the general training of men be directed towards making
them more alert to seize upon new occasions of industry,
and to recognise the changes of condition which require the
abandonment of decaying occupations ; if, instead of vain
repinings and impotent struggles against change, there is
a frank acceptance of the inevitable which is also beneficial ;
above aU, if the relation of numbers to the means of existence
is confessed, and men are taught to recognise practically
and habitually their responsibiUty for their children's start
in life, we may face the future without anxiety if not with-
out concern. But I cannot honestly say that I believe these
conditions of successful conduct in the future are at present
reahsed. I must confess, not for the first time, to a suspicion
that they are less generally apprehended than they were in
a preceding generation. Our immediate predecessors seem
to me to have been more loyal in admitting the rigour of
the conditions of life, more courageous in rejecting indolent
sentimentalities ; they knew the severities of the rule of
the universe, and the penalties of neglecting to conform to
it. Many causes have conspired to corrupt this sound
morality ; but the circumstances of to-day seem to require
that a strenuous effort should be made to restore and
spread its authority before the remorseless pressure of fact
comes to re-establish its sanction."

A third address, delivered at University College on
February 11, 1891,^ was devoted to Socialism, which he
depicted as economically impracticable and morally un-
desirable. As a boy he had heard much talk of Robert
Owen, and as a young man he had bought his clothes at
one of the co-operative shops started by the " Christian
Socialists," who were not Socialists at all. If small com-

^ Reported verbatim in the Times.

288 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

munities had failed through bad management and human
friction, what brain could control the operations of a vast
machine involving the life of a whole nation ? A socialist
community, could it be formed, would be a sluggish river
if not a stagnant pool ; and the organisation of industry is
too complex a task for a bureaucracy. The difficulties that
beset the theory of collectivism are insuperable. But this
negative result does not throw us back on an unimprovable
anarchy. " Consider what might be accomplished through
a growth in temperance, prudence and the exercise of
S3mipathy, Poverty, as we understand it, would disappear.
Strong men and free men, with personal independence
unabated yet inbred with mutual respect, would associate,
working out an elevation of the common Hfe through
individual advancement. The individualist has also his
ideal. Life is richer than ever in variety and beauty ; for
while the toil needed to support existence is abated and
the condition of all has been raised, character and independ-
ence, vivacity, self-rehance and courage — all the elements
that constitute the personal genius of each citizen — have
been strengthened."

The strongest Parliaments exhaust their strength, and
in the session of 1890 Unionist stock began to fall rapidly.
The withdrawal of the grant to local authorities for the
purchase and extinction of licenses was a damaging blow
to the Government, and revealed a weakness in the Higher
Command.

Journal

July 2. — We have had a nasty fortnight for the Unionist
cause. For some time business in the House has been going
slowly and badly, the Government not managing well. Poor old
W. H. Smith ill and not equal to the strain. The Opposition
obstructing abominably, and Leonard feeling sometimes bound
to refuse the closure, to the great disgust of the Tory rank and
file. To complete the trouble Goschen and Ritchie insist on
passing the Compensation Clauses of the Local Taxation Bill,
ardently opposed by the fanatical teetotallers, disliked by
financial people like Leonard, and not cared for by any one.
Feeling higher at every stage, and Government majority lower

xin CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 289

at every division. At last Government announce partial with-
drawal and finally total withdrawal. Caine, who has led the
Temperance opposition, throws up his seat in disgust and goes
off to contest it as an Independent Liberal. Great consternation,
and House so demoralised one night (July 24) that anything might
have happened. Ministry all collapsed apparently. Considering
they have a good majority and are not failing in their main policy
of Irish Government, it seems absurd for the Unionist party to
succumb hke that to what is after all only comparatively a trifling
blunder ; but the truth is there is no leader.

The return of a Gladstonian Liberal at the bye-election,
defeating both the Conservative candidate and Caine him-
self, seemed a portent, and Liberal Unionists began to wear
long faces.

To his Wife

July 9, 1890. — In going through the Lobby to-night I was
intercepted. " Was it true that Randolph was coming back ?
People were saying that he was to be Home Secretary. Some
said that he was to lead the House, but most said Beach." To
which I could only say I had not heard a word of it.

The Government had lost its nerve and felt that it
required a long rest.

To Ms Wife

July II, 1890. — Everything contested is thrown over, and
we meet again in November. It is very disgusting looking back
upon Easter and thinking that nothing but mischief has been
done since.

The autumn holiday was spent in Ireland, which he had
not seen since 1883, Landing at Dublin he struck south,
visiting Lord Monteagle and Henry Butcher, and then
made his way up the west coast. Travelling through
Donegal and Londonderry he reached Belfast, where he
was shown over Harland and Wolff's by Mr. Pirrie, delivered
a speech to local Unionists, and lectured on Proportional
Representation to the Philosophical Society. The tour
ended as it began in Dublin, where he discussed his impres-
sions with T. W. Russell, the O'Conor Don, Richard Bagwell,

u

290 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

and Bishop O'Dwyer. The journey suppHed him with
ammunition for his autumn campaign. " I return a more
convinced Unionist than ever." The difference between
Ulster and the rest of Ireland was moral even more than
material. The settlement of the land question would
dispose of Home Rule. " It wiU not at once kill the
demand, but it will abate it. And if a Home Rule Parha-
ment were to be established, it would start with better
prospects," Land purchase should be regarded as a safety-
valve where the friction of the dual system is intolerable ;
but it should be neither universal nor compulsory.

While opinion in the constituencies seemed to be veering
towards Gladstonian Liberahsm, an unexpected stroke of
fortime revived the spirits of Unionists and spread dismay
in the Home Rule ranks. Parhament reassembled on
November 23, and Courtney took the place of the Speaker,
whose wife was dying of cancer. The Leader of the House
desired to substitute a mere expression of thanks for the
usual detailed reply to the Queen's Speech, in order to
shorten the debate on the Address. Courtney anticipated
opposition, and Gladstone at once rose to formulate objec-
tions. But the Address was voted the same evening, for
Members could think of nothing but the O'Shea divorce
case and of its political consequences. Though the Irish
Members were ready to back their chief, Gladstone's letter
demanding his retirement was followed by Pamell's des-
perate fight for existence. The savage quarrels of the
NationaUsts and the exposure of the Irish leader filled
Englishmen with disgust, and postponed the conversion of
" the predominant partner " to Home Rule. After the
buffetings of 1889 and 1890 the Government recovered its
breath in 1891, when it paid for the loyal support of Liberal
Unionists by the aboUtion of school fees. Free Educa-
tion had figured in the " Unauthorised Programme," and
Chamberlain was not the man to drop a popular cry because
he had changed his party. The Government Bill was a
Chamberlain measure, and no member of the Cabinet was
half so interested in its fortunes as the Member for West
Birmingham. The Chairman of Committees cared as little

xiii CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 291

for Socialistic Radicalism in 1891 as in 1885, and declined
to support it in the Division Lobby.

Journal

Easter. — Stay with Evelyn Ashley at Broadlands. Chamber-
lain there. He asked me if I had " any influence over Courtney."
I said " Not much ; no one has." " Well, whatever influence
you have, use it to instil into his mind never to refuse the closure
during these next months whatever the circumstances."

Courtney's dislike of Free Education, however, was
shared by few, and the BiU had an easy passage through
Parliament. Before starting for Germany and Tirol at the
close of the session, he wrote to congratulate the Chief
Secretary on his intention to include Minority Representa-
tion in the scheme of Irish Local Government which he was
preparing.

To Arthur Balfour

August 29. — I am extremely glad that you delivered yourself
at Pl5anouth as you did on Local Government in Ireland, and
that you intimated that the representation of minorities would
be aimed at in your scheme. It is remarkable that none of your
critics has noticed this intimation, and I interpret their silence
to indicate uncertainty how it should be met. Harcourt told me
before the prorogation that you had told him as much and his
instinct was naturally one of opposition ; but I think Morley's
inchnation (if nothing more) would be the other way, and I
beheve it would be extremely difficult to marshal a united
opposition against the provision. The remonstrances your formal
announcement has provoked against deahng with Local Govern-
ment at all in Ireland are no more than you must have expected
and will not disquiet you. We return in October, and in the latter
part of that month I shall be visiting my constituents and making
a series of poUtical speeches. I intend in these to deal with the
expediency and necessity of a measure of Local Government in
Ireland again and again, and I shall of course dwell on the repre-
sentation of minorities as an essential part of the measure. I
hope the tale won't appear too often told, but the persistent
advocacy may gain in force what it loses in wearisomeness. At
all events I shall do everything I can by way of preparation, and
if when the time comes there is anything you would like specially

292 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

noted I shall be glad to hear from you. It is early to talk of next
session. You showed in the Purchase BiU that you could fight
single-handed, perhaps better than with assistance ; but on the
Local Government Bill you would have to face a somewhat
different opposition, and the thought sometimes occurs to me
whether I could now and then give assistance that might be
useful. Raikes has passed away very suddenly. I had not
suspected physical weakness. He was an excellent Chairman of
Committees and I look upon myself as his pupil. I wish you
could take his place as Member for the University. The ties of
Manchester may be too strong, but if you could with honour
leave those sheep in the wilderness all Cambridge men would hail
you. I must not run into gossip. My wife joins me in kindest
regards.

While the Chairman of Committees was enjojdng himself
on the Continent, the National Liberal Federation met at
Newcastle and drew up what was known as the Newcastle
Programme. Home Rule naturally occupied the fore-
ground of the picture ; but Local Veto and Disestablishment
of the Church in Wales were formally adopted as fighting
issues for the election of the following year. Each of the
three planks had numerous and powerful enemies ; but one
of them, at least, had no terrors for Courtney. Disestablish-
ment, he told his constituents on his autumn visit, was a
matter of time, place and circumstance. Many Churches
flourished though unconnected with the State. Essential
reforms could not be obtained from Parliament ; and,
speaking as a Churchman, he would be glad to remove the
fetters. DisestabUshment in Wales was near at hand ; and
if it were to come later in England it would be in some
degree owing to growth in the life and energy in the Church.
His general attitude towards current issues, new and old,
was set forth in a letter to a Bodmin correspondent.

To a Constituent

I deplore the dependence of the finances of India upon the
opium trade. I would join in any step to prevent the increase
of that dependence, such as forbidding the introduction of opimn
into countries it had not entered, and I should be glad to see
measures taken to contract the trade ; but I cannot join in any

xin CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES 293

vote for stopping it altogether — at all events until I see how the
loss is to be made up. The net revenue is less than it was, but
is still too large a sum to be abandoned at the risk of bankruptcy.
As to Temperance legislation at home I have often declared in
favour of Sunday closing ; but I have always added it would be
necessary to except London. London hours might perhaps be
reduced. I should add that though prepared to vote for a bill
for England I am still of opinion that it would be better for each
county to make a bye-law for itself. As to Local Option I voted
last session for a Welsh Local Option Bill of a very crude character,
but I did so deUberately as expressing my conviction that some
measure of local restraint or prohibition must be passed. I
cannot, however, honestly say that I think this question is near
settlement. I doubt whether any person on either of the two
front benches has appUed his mind to drawing a bill on it, perhaps
I ought to say since Mr. Bruce's abortive bill of twenty years ago.
I always thought very well of that measure myself as honest in
intention, as one that would long ere this have been largely
operative had it been adopted, and as one that might have been
extended when time proved its utility. It is possible that when
the hour of legislation comes Parhament will fall back upon its
principles if not upon its provisions. The experiences of our
Colonies, of our kinsmen in the United States and of Northern
Europe show that the question is not easy and that many experi-
ments will probably be tried in deaUng with it.

While the armies were gathering for the coming battle,
three familiar figures left the stage on which they had
played an active part. On October 6 the Irish leader's
stormy life came to an end, and on the same day the blame-
less Leader of the House passed away. But the removal
of PameU and W. H. Smith affected Courtney's fortunes
less than the death of the seventh Duke of Devonshire,
which terminated the long career in the House of Commons
of Lord Hartington, whom he had followed with confidence
and admiration since 1886, and substituted as the Liberal
Unionist leader a man with whom he had nothing in common
save a dislike of Home Rule.

From the Duke of Devonshire

December 30, 1891. — Of all the tributes to the memory of my
father which I have received I value none more highly than yours

294 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, xm

I hope that you over-estmiate the effect of my removal from the
House of Commons. During the last session or two I have felt
that there was not much occasion for activity or exertion on my
part in the House. If there is more active work to be done in
the next session, I am sure that it will be as weU or better done
by my successor, and my only apprehension is as to a popular
excess of zeal.

In the last session of the Salisbury Parliament Mr.
Balfour, though no longer Chief Secretary, introduced his
Local Government Bill for Ireland. The measure was hotly
attacked by the Opposition and coldly welcomed on the
Government Benches ; but it included the promised cumu-
lative voting and earned the blessing of the Chairman of
Committees. Nobody, however, expected it to pass, for
the General Election was in sight. Easter and Whitsun
were spent in electioneering, and on June 26 ParUament
was dissolved. Courtney's Liberal friends hoped that he
would hold the seat, and Mundella effusively declared at a
dinner-party in Cheyne Walk that he and John Morley
would go down and help him if there was any real danger
of losing it. The sitting Member, however, felt no tremors,
and defended the six-year record with vigorous conviction.
" Peace and friendship have been maintained," he declared ;
" we have had no wars nor rumours of wars. There is no
real criticism of Lord Sahsbury's administration of foreign
affairs." Mr. Balfour's rule in Ireland had been thoroughly
successful, and Home Rule was as needless and dangerous
as ever. The estabUshment of County Councils was a
peaceful and beneficent revolution. " Looking either at
the foreign, colonial or domestic poHcy of the Government,
it deserves Liberal support." Most Liberals, however,
thought otherwise, and the seat was held by the greatly
reduced majority of 231.

CHAPTER XIV

ABOVE THE BATTLE

The Home Rulers emerged from the polls with a majority
of forty, and it was generally expected that a new Chairman
of Committees would be appointed from the ranks of the
victors.

Journal

August 4. — ^The new Parliament meets and I go down, as I
am to keep my old seat until the new Chairman is appointed,
about which there is great discussion in the papers. The Glad-
stonian papers are taking it for granted that it is a party
office and must go with the Government. There is no precedent
either way, and L. has a strong opinion that one ought to be
created making the Chairmanship a non-party post, seeing that
he has so much to do with the closure now and that the office is
almost a new one in that respect. I hope and beheve he will
refuse to go on as Chairman even if they ask him, for I want
him to guide opinion on our side more than he can do in the
Chair and take a more active part in the warfare. I wonder
if I am wrong. Anyhow I am in agreement with his constituents.

The suspense was soon over, and it was announced that
a lawyer of no special distinction or capacity was to rule
in his place. Courtney's reflections on the changes in the
poUtical landscape were confided to a valued friend who
had fallen on the field of battle.

To Arthur Elliot

August 16, 1892. — I moaned over your defeat ; it was one
of the worst incidents of the Election. I know none more
disgusting ; and the Election was fruitful in pretty bad things.

295

296 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

John Morley makes no secret of his vexation not only in his
own case but at the final result for the party. A victory without
power ! A Government established but too weak to get through
their first work. As to himself I have a feeUng that he will be
re-elected at Newcastle despite the 3000 majority at the General
Election. I am writing at the Reform Club where not so much
is known as you will know when this reaches you. The place
is full of fussy expectants and I have retired to the Library
where silence is imperative. I hear Labouchere is in the Smoking
Room speaking his mind freely. Mr. G. is a superannuated old
goose and Arnold Morley is too ridiculous. He, Labby, has
received no communication whatever ! ! ! X. is moving about
anxiously doubting whether he may not be passed over. I
tell him it is not too late. Another nervous shadow finds
London detestable in August — wonders how anybody can endure
it. I have seen this kind of thing go on two or three times before,
and a real artist could make a great picture of it. These poor
devils with desire gnawing at their hearts are a sight for the gods,
but I don't feel as if we were a very jolly spectacle. One would
have preferred to knock Home Rule on the head, or, barring that,
to be knocked on the head ourselves ; but neither being done
we have a stormy, doubtful time ahead. If the Old Man has
really treated Labouchere as nobody, he has provided a whip
for himself at once. We may really have another General
Election within twelve months, and what a servitude life will
be for those who got in with narrow majorities 1 I have sworn
I will not be a slave.

The Unionist Ministry faced the new Parliament, and
after a short, sharp debate were defeated on an amendment
to the Address moved by Mr. Asquith.

Journal

August II. — My old seat I suppose for the last time. The
speech of the evening was Chamberlain's — very clever, splendidly
clever, very bitter. The Terrace was crowded, and, except the
few prominent Opposition leaders who look dreadfully anxious,
everybody is happy. The outgoing Government look cheery,
Mr. Balfour beaming like a boy about to have a long-deferred
holiday. The rank and file Unionists look forward to having
their fling and more fun and less grind, while the rank and file
Gladstonians are full of coming triumph and many hopeful of
promotion. We Unionists don't think Home Rule can come

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 297

with the size and composition of the majority, and look forward
to a certain wholesome clearing of the air with Mr. Gladstone
in power again.

Courtney was of opinion that the new Ministry should
have fair play. The country, he told his constituents,
seemed to have determined to give the Old Man another
chance. The temptation to join with discontented factions
and eject the Government must be resisted. Continual
changes were undesirable. The Gladstonians should have
the opportunity of performing what they had promised,
so that, if they failed, their failure should be clearly attri-
buted to the fact that their promises were impossible of
execution, not to factious opposition. It was asking a
good deal of human nature ; but abstinence from " factious
opposition " was no effort to the most independent Member
of the House. Moreover the Chief Secretary was his inti-
mate friend, and he was ready to co-operate with the Home
Rulers in giving Ireland everything except Home Rule.
Mr. Morley was no sooner reinstated in Phoenix Park than
he sent a pressing invitation to his friend to pay him a
visit. He had congratulated the Member for East Cornwall
on his victory, " notwithstanding your bad poUtics," and
had received in return good wishes for his victory in the
troublesome bye-election, " as magnanimous as they were
welcome."

From John Morley {to Mrs. Courtney)

November 20, 1892. — ^Where are you ? Where is your
promise ? When do you come under this humble roof ? Why
did you not congratulate me about Newcastle ? I hope you are
both flourishing Hke green bay trees.

A visit to Dubhn proved impossible ; but the autumn
holiday included a brief sojourn at Whittingehame, where
they found a family party. " A large, solid, comfortable
house," wrote Mrs. Courtney in her Journal. " Very much
loved at home is Prince Arthur, and it is pleasant to see him
strolling about with a pruning stick cHpping his trees and
shrubs on the Sunday afternoon." On the way south the

298 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Roman Wall and the coast castles of Northumberland were
explored.

The first session of the fomrth Gladstone Ministry opened
on January 31, and the first business after the debate on
the Address was the introduction of the second Home Rule
Bill.

Journal

February 13. — The great day, the great declaration has come.
It was a grand sight. The Old Man spoke strongly at first but
with weakening voice towards the end of his two and a quarter
hours. It was a wonderful effort for eighty-four years, and with
one side of my mind I admired it all, while the other Ustened
with indignation to this long-expected Bill.

The novelty of the measure was the retention of the
Irish Members, who were, however, only to vote on Irish
and Imperial matters. The Nationahsts had acquired a
new and doughty champion in Edward Blake, who had led
the Liberal party in Canada, and whose maiden speech
made a marked impression ; while the Unionist case was
supported by Randolph Churchill, who broke silence after
a long interval but whose right hand had lost its cunning.
Courtney had never spoken on Home Rule in the House ;
but he was now unmuzzled, and on the last day of the
First Reading debate he followed Blake and Chamberlain.
He reiterated his old conviction that a subordinate Parlia-
ment, though possible in theory, was impossible in practice.
Ireland must be governed either from Dubhn or from
London. Any attempt to modify the course of the ship
would be fiercely resented, and would have to be either
weakly abandoned or peremptorily enforced. The future
of Ireland would depend on the character of the Assembly,
not on the clauses of the Act ; and the new Parliament
would be httle more than the Irish Members sitting in
Dublin. There was no provision in the Bill for the repre-
sentation of minorities, and the Irish Unionists would be
helpless in face of the NationaUst legions. Slow but steady
progress had been made since the Union. Patience, courage
and goodwill would in the long run produce a new Ireland.

Mv ABOVE THE BATTLE 299

Journal

It was a most trying time for him ; for members always rush
out after two or three hours' excitement when the dinner-hour
is nigh. He did not speak well, and we both went away rather
sorrowful. Two days later Sir John Lubbock called and would
not have it that L.'s speech was a failure, but only less well
deUvered than usual. He is a dear, kind man and cheered us
by being more sanguine about defeating the Bill than I am.
Horace Plunkett came afterwards and we liked this new Irish
Unionist M.P. very much.

A dinner with Chamberlain, at which Lord and Lady
Salisbury were among the guests, supplied further en-
couragement. Courtney was, however, as a rule more
effective on the platform than in the House, and when
Lord George Hamilton, who had sat in Parliament with
him for fifteen years, heard him during the Easter recess
at a great Unionist demonstration at Pl5anouth, he was
surprised by the warmth and vigour of his oratory. While
denouncing Home Rule as "an injustice before God and
man " he worked hard to improve the Bill, taking an active
part in the discussions on the Committee stage. The Chief
Secretary told Margaret Courtney that her brother's speeches
were the best and most useful on either side, and that he
and Mr. Gladstone always Ustened with attention to them.
Though as strong a Unionist as ever he was not invariably
in agreement with the line taken by his leaders. He had
always held that if a Home Rule Parliament was set up it
should control the tariff, and he now advocated the con-
cession of that power — a position which in a strong Free
Trader surprised some of his critics. But the knowledge
that the House of Lords would reject the Bill cast an air
of imreality over the debates, and much of it was voted
without discussion and with the aid of the closure.

At the invitation of his leaders Courtney moved the
rejection of the Third Reading on August 3. Rising
immediately after the Prime Minister he met the complaint
of obstruction with the rejoinder that the Bill had been
incompletely discussed. Passing to the graver counts in

300 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

the indictment he maintained that no change of such
magnitude had ever been made with such a small backing.
If an Irish majority was for it, an EngUsh majority was
against it. The measure was constitutionally and finan-
cially unworkable, and the Lords would be doing their duty
in throwing it out. " At the last election the people did
not have the Bill before them. Next time they wiU, and
they will reject it." It was a vigorous fighting speech,
convincing enough to those who lacked the instinct and
vision of nationahty. A few days later the second Home
Rule Bill was rejected by a ten to one majority in the Upper
House. " We have had a weary time," he wrote to Arthur
EUiot, " despite the interest of many of the constitutional
discussions."

When the main BiU of the session was out of the way
Courtney reminded his constituents that " except in opposi-
tion to Home Rule " he was a Liberal stiU. His friend
Lord Hobhouse used to say that he was the only man who
could rightfully caU himself a Liberal Unionist. He blessed
the Parish Councils BiU on its second reading, and in
Committee pressed though in vain for the cumulative vote.
" The Lords now have the Parish Councils Bill in hand,"
he wrote at the close of the long discussions ; " but neither
they nor we will have modified it in any reaUy important
degree. It wiU pass, and in view of its good results, which
are considerable, we must take the risk of its evil." The
prolonged session yielded httle fruit ; for the Employers'
Liability Bill was withdrawn when the Upper House insisted
on contracting out. The Government possessed as Httle
strength in the country as in the House, and Gladstone's
unexpected retirement in the spring of 1894 diminished the
already slender capital of the firm. It was impossible to
witness the close of his career, declared Courtney to his
constituents at Easter, without strong sympathy and some
emotion. The old Leader was an enthusiast ; his successor
was a cynic, calm, wary and self-possessed, wealthy and
fond of racing. He had listened to his first speech as
Premier in the House of Lords, and his confession that the
predominant partner must be converted before Home Rule

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 301

could be passed was a vindication of its recent action. The
Peers never opposed when the people's mind was made up,
and they were often wiser in details than the Commons,
as when they insisted on contracting out. But the Upper
Chamber was far too big. Every three of the present
Peers should elect one of themselves, and new blood should
be introduced by the creation of Life Peers and by represen-
tatives of County Councils and County Boroughs.

Throughout the session of 1894 Courtney steadily sup-
ported the Government. Harcourt's death duties, which
were utterly repugnant to the Conservative mind, appeared
to him sound finance ; and he had never concealed his
conviction that the Church of the minority in Wales ought
in justice to be disestabhshed. He had explained his views
in a letter to a constituent shortly before the election of
1892.

To a Clergyman

November 16, 1891. — It is quite true I told my constituents
(what I had often told them before) that Disestablishment would
come, and the only novelty in my recent remarks lay in the
suggestion that there might be a growing feeling within the
Church that on the whole it had better come. Even this was
not quite new. You speak as if the Church would be left quite
penniless. There would be some deprivation of this world's
goods, but much would be left, so much that under the economical
administration of a responsible Church body there would be still
a large nucleus of endowment for every want, and the loss would
be scarcely felt. The Irish Church was doubtless especially
fortunate in the time of the rearrangement of its funds, but
allowing for this its history is most encouraging. Many Irish
Churchmen would not go back, setting against the compara-
tively insignificant loss of endowment the gain in freedom and
in the power of organising the developing resources. I do not
for a moment believe there would be any check in the real work
of the Church. You say the question is one for laymen as
much as, even more than, the clergy. I have always so regarded
it. In fact my own reluctance to contemplate Disestablishment
has always been largely due to the apprehension that the Dis-
established Church would be controlled almost exclusively
by ecclesiastics ; but a time must come when advantages and
disadvantages have to be balanced against one another. Do

302 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap

not, however, suppose that I think Disestabhshment imminent.
That is not my opinion. But permanent forces are working
that way, and on the other hand that " moderate amount of
legislation " you look for to remove disadvantages becomes
yearly more hopeless and in truth will never be accomplished.
I deprecate above all things the defence of the Church degenerat-
ing into a poor struggle to maintain more or less of silver and gold.

He naturally adhered to his opinion when the Govern-
ment introduced their Bill in 1894, though he consented to
abstain from supporting it in the Division Lobby.

To a Correspondent

May 7, 1894. — I am afraid my answer must be what you
expect rather than what you desire. I cannot see my way
to vote against the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, although I am
prepared to defer so far to the wishes of many of my friends
as not to vote in its favour. I know this attitude will displease
many and may please none, and I am not unmindful of the
consequences that may follow. In my judgment it is a grievous
error to tie together in an inseparable bond the poUtical organisa-
tion of the Church in Wales and that of the Church in England.
You probably saw the letter of the Headmaster of Rugby
(Dr. Perceval) in Friday's Times. It agrees so much with
what I have thought and spoken that I might adopt it as my
own ; not with any desire to screen myself behind authority,
but for the proof it offers that a man may be a faithful Church-
man and yet think the Welsh EstabUshment ought to be undone.

Opposition to Home Rule appeared to Courtney to
involve support of every remedial measure for Ireland ; and
the Chief Secretary had no more powerful aUy in his earnest
endeavour to reinstate the evicted tenants. He vigorously
defended his vote for the Second Reading of the BUI in an
Open Letter to a Constituent. He had advocated this
policy at public meetings during and after the election.
Mr. Balfour's Land Purchase Bill of 1891 accepted the
principle of reinstatement as purchasers, subject to the
landlord's consent, Mr. Morley's Bill allowed it if such
consent was unreasonably withheld, in which case the
landlord would be bought out. If the Unionists returned to

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 303

power, they would have to pursue the same course. " It
is not in the public interest that a cloud of landless men
should be hovering about the land they once held."

This statesmanlike view of Irish needs was not shared by
the Conservatives, to whom the compulsion of landlords
was an abomination. To the innumerable amendments
placed upon the paper the Government replied by a closure
resolution ; for the session was far advanced and the inten-
tion to wreck the Bill was unconcealed. After two days of
unprofitable wrangling in Committee Courtney delivered
one of the most impressive speeches of his life. " I cannot
help expressing my profound regret at the deplorable con-
dition in which we are landed. It is a matter of Imperial
policy. You may get half a dozen individuals — certainly
not a majority of the landlords — unreasonably preventing
what you say is a reasonable solution, and you will not
allow the interference of the State for the removal of these
plague spots. In the interest of Ireland I am profoundly
moved by the spectacle before us of the certain failure of
the Bill. Who is responsible for it ? Is it the impetuosity
of the Government with its closure resolution ? Is it even
now too late for a settlement ? Perhaps what I say is like
one crying in the wilderness and saying Peace, Peace, when
there is no peace. Some solution ought to be possible which
would redeem this House from this worse than degradation,
the saving of a measure bringing peace and relief to that
most distracted country." The phrases were simple and
unadorned ; but their effect was almost mesmeric.

Journal

July 31. — The House is in Committee with some hundreds
of amendments to go through. Sir W. Harcourt had put down
a notice of a guillotine resolution to include Committee and
Report. Leonard has been trying privately to get the leaders
on both sides to agree to some compromise. John Morley very
willing, Harcourt seemed ditto, and L. wrote strong appeals to
Mr. Balfour and Mr. Chamberlain. So I went to the House to
see what the result would be. Sir William got up and moved
the gag with few words. Arthur Balfour rose full of indignation,

304 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

and made a very clever and fighting party speech. John Morley
followed with a fighting answer, Chamberlain ditto, and Labby
scoffed. Then L. rose and made his appeal to both sides for a
better spirit. I have heard equally fine speeches from him,
but never one in Parliament which produced the same effect.
His thoughts were from his heart, his words well chosen, and
it was undoubtedly what they call the psychological moment.
The crowded house was Uterally shaken by it, and for half a
minute it seemed as if his appeal would succeed. But alas
Harcourt had been collecting sharp arrows in reply to Balfour's
and Chamberlain's and could not forego them ; so, though
making a kind of offer, he so covered it with attacks and sneers
that the game was up. Goschen followed with a miserable
screaming speech, and the guillotine was voted. I shall never
forget the interest and excitement of that hour, my triimiph
at L.'s success or my grief at the miserable result. But one
result has been quite a sensation in the papers, and letters and
words of praise from various friends on both sides.

Mrs, Courtney's picture of the scene was in no way
over-coloured. " It was perhaps the most dramatic debate
of this generation," wrote the 5^. James's Gazette. " The
effect of the speech was almost marvellous to those who
know the profound cynicism of the assembly. But the
secret was simple. It was its downright honesty, its obvious
truthfulness that conquered the House and stirred the best
impulses in every Member." " His practice as Chairman
has given to his speeches a slightly didactic tone," com-
mented the Westminster Gazette ; " but last night he was
moved from his equable professorial temper by a sort of
strange, prophetic wrath at what Seemed to him the sad
and wicked scene that was being enacted. Depths were
roused unknown to the House. It will endear him to the
Irish Members, who suddenly realised that they had in this
stem Unionist, so conscious of their Celtic sins, one who
had made acquaintance with the depths of Irish suffering
on that wild Atlantic seaboard." Irish gratitude was
voiced by Mr. T. P. O'Connor in the Sun. " In language
of a melodiousness, exaltation and now and then loftiest
eloquence which were a startling revelation of the possibiH-
ties in this isolated, self-restrained, rather hard man, he

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 305

held the House in a grip tighter than I have seen any man
exercise over it for many a day. It was one of those rare
moments when the ties and obhgations, the rancorous
temper of poUtical divisions disappear in the atmosphere
of touching and exalted eloquence." " He awed the
House," echoed the Daily Chronicle. " Like everybody
else I fell under the spell and forgot to store his words in
my memory, while I breathed the high and clear atmosphere
to which he carried his hearers,"

The appeal was fruitless, and the guillotine resolution
was carried in an angry House. But the friends of the Bill
implored him to continue his mediation, and T. P. O'Connor
came to offer on behalf of the NationaUst party to give up
the compulsory powers on condition that if the Bill failed a
compulsory measure should be introduced next year. With
this ohve branch in his hand Courtney approached the
rival leaders. The Chief Secretary, anxious to save part
at any rate of his cargo, proved wilHng enough ; and the
next step was to urge the Liberal Unionist Peers to accept
the Second Reading and then make the Bill voluntary.

From the Duke of Devonshire

August 5. — I think it is difficult to decide what should be
done in the House of Lords till we see what takes place on the
Report and Third Reading in the House of Commons. There
seems to be a strong objection, not confined to the Conserva-
tives nor Irish landlords, to giving a Second Reading to the Bill
with compulsion in it. The uncompromising attitude of the
Opposition appears to have produced a quite unexpected dis-
position to compromise on the part of the Government and Irish,

The Leader of the Opposition and Chamberlain, though
they had no desire to carry the Bill, did not absolutely
reject Courtney's advances. There was thus a ray of hope
when the House met on August 7 for the Third Reading.

Journal

Mr. Brodrick moved the rejection in a landlord's speech,
but stUl not completely shutting the door. If only L. had
followed ! But he was told the Irish were going to put up some

X

3o6 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

one to make a conciliatory speech, and it was Mr. O'Brien, the
man most eager for a compromise. But after exhorting the
Opposition to imitate L.'s noble spirit he went off into a fit of
insane fury, threatening and insulting landlords and Opposition
in fine old style. " All is over," was Mr. Morley's word to L.,
who sadly remained silent. One more little flicker, for those
unaccountable NationaHsts do want the Bill ; and so, when
only an hour was left, half for Mr. Balfour and half for Mr.
Morley, up got Dillon and claimed to answer Chamberlain,
who had intervened. Mr. Balfour refused to give way ; but
there was evidently an organised call for Dillon, who then asked
the Government if they would adjourn the debate so that he
might speak. Mr. Morley agreed, but something unforeseen by
the Irish party occurred. Arthur Balfour waived his right to
speak. Poor Dillon, who had evidently risen to gain another
day in hope of saving the Bill, made a very flat speech. Mr.
Morley followed, and the Third Reading was carried, Leonard
voting for it.

A week later Mr. Balfour, dining at Cheyne Walk,
admitted that his host's speech had made such an impression
that, though he personally was against a compromise, he
could not have resisted the pressure on his own side if it
had not been for O'Brien's outrageous speech. The failure
of the compromise negotiations sealed the fate of the measure
in the Upper House.

From the Duke of Devonshire

August 8. — I imagine there is very little chance after last
night's debate of any arrangement being come to in the House
of Lords as to the Evicted Tenants Bill. Still it is possible that
suggestions may be made to Liberal Unionist Peers to endeavour
to get the Second Reading agreed to with the object of convert-
ing the Bill into a voluntary one. I doubt the possibihty or
expediency of this course under any circumstances, but I am
quite sure that it is absolutely impossible unless the Government
are prepared to take some step and open some communication
with Lord Sahsbury before the Second Reading. When the
Peers have come up to vote against the Second Reading, it will
be impossible to induce them to vote for it on the chance of the
amendments they may be able to introduce in Committee and
of their acceptance by the Government in the House of Commons.
Nothing less than an undertaking by the Government that they

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 307

would themselves propose the amendments necessary to convert
the Bill into a voluntary one, and to meet other objections,
would have a chance of success, and I do not know that this
would. I do not think that it would be fair to the Opposition
that they should be asked to take the responsibility of converting
a BiU, the principle of which they disapprove, into one which
they could accept. To accept from the Government a totally
different Bill would be another matter.

The time for compromise had passed, and the Bill went
forward to its doom. In commending it to the Peers the
Prime Minister paid a warm tribute to Courtney's attempted
mediation ; but the House of Landlords had scant S5niipathy
with evicted tenants and rejected the measure by an over-
whelming majority.

The autumn holiday was spent in Scotland ; and a
visit to Mr. Haldane at Cloanden was followed by a pilgrim-
age to a shrine which attracted few pilgrims.

Journal

September 26. — ^A beautiful and most interesting day. L. had
long been wanting to go to Haddington, the old home and last
resting-place of Mrs. Carlyle, of whom I may call him a sort of
posthumous lover, for he delights in her letters and all the
incidents of her brilliant existence amid more than common
sorrow. A large house first attracted our attention. L. went
up to inquire, half hoping it might be the house. It was a Bank ;
but the manager told us that his family were old friends and
that the funeral had been from the house. Following directions
we soon came to a singularly pretty, half-defaced fagade on to
a narrow street, still a doctor's house ; and a long passage took
us to the entrance. We were shewn into the drawing-room,
a pretty room looking over the large back garden with Adam
mantelpiece. We pictured the vivacious young girl and the
many admirers who came into her Hfe before " the young wild
beast," as L. calls him, appeared. Then to the Cathedral,
a much finer building than I had imagined. Her grave Hes
amid sun and shadow. The pigeons were cooing amid the ruins,
and the whole scene was lovely and touching. Wandering back
another way we saw in front of us a very old man. L. ran
after him and asked him the way to the old school where Janey
Welsh was taught. He turned out to be Dr. Howden, whose
father was a partner of hers, and he gladly gave us a good deal

5o8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

of information. We lunched at the George in the coffee-room
where she spent a long evening alone on her last visit so graphic-
ally recorded a few years before her death. To our surprise,
just as we had finished, our old gentleman, who was over eighty-
five, came to seek us. " He ought to have shewn us over the
place ; was it too late ? " We joyfuUy threw over our train
and saUied out with him, again to the Cathedral, over the old
bridge, to the school where Irving taught, hearing all the time
about Mrs. Carlyle.

During the winter Courtney took a leading part in
securing Carlyle's house in Cheyne Row for the public. He
had met him in the later 'sixties, when on one occasion he
espied the prophet walking alone in heavy rain without an
umbreUa. With some difi&dence the younger man offered
the shelter of his umbrella, which was accepted. Carlyle
was full of the Reform Bill enfranchising householders, and
of his pamphlet entitled Shooting Niagara. Courtney
proved a good listener, and at the end of the walk he received
an invitation to pay him a visit some day ; but he hesitated
to take advantage of a chance meeting and never crossed
the threshold of Cheyne Row till years after the old man
was dead, and an opportunity arose of rescuing it for the
public. He asked the Chief Secretary to support the
movement with a speech.

To John Motley

January 20, 1895. — When I asked the Hon. Secretary two
days ago why your name was not on the enclosed list I was told
that you were suspected of want of sympathy. I expressed
utter disbehef. Carlyle is no more infallible than any other,
and a poor Irish Secretary may feel nervous about testifying
any respect for a biographer of Cromwell ; but these are con-
siderations for feeble men without any sense of proportion.
I hear the movement is not going forward as rapidly as could be
wished, and LesUe Stephen and his fellow-workers are organising
an afternoon meeting at the Mansion House in about the third
week in February, and they want you to come and make a speech.
Ripon has promised, and I am ready to go if the Lord Mayor
wiU aUow me to enter his dweUing ; but your presence would be
of the greatest help. Don't let me labour it any longer.

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 309

An invitation to Huxley was declined on other grounds.

From T. H. Huxley

January 23, 1895. — I asked my doctor to-day if I might go
and speak at your meeting and he said No with a big N and an
expression not compUmentary to my wisdom — shared I am
sorry to say by " the woman that owns me." And very sorry
I am that I cannot say a word for the grand old Diogenes-
Socrates who dragged me out of the mud of British Philisterei
half a century ago.

Courtney's speech at the Mansion House was described
by one present as the most notable feature of the meeting,
" fehcitous in phrase, tender in feeling, discriminating in
appreciation, and deUvered with admirable ease and oratori-
cal effect," Though sealed of the tribe of Mill and dis-
agreeing both with Carlyle's opinions and methods of
thought, he never ceased to admire the moral fervour, the
piercing insight and the rugged independence of the old
prophet. " Every man and woman experiences a time
when the ordinary life seems to fail and a new life springs
up within them, and they have their feet firmly planted
in a large room and their vision and conception of the
world's history undergoes a change. This is what some
of us owed to him. I believe his readers increase year by
year and the circle of his influence extends. Nearly forty
years ago I made a pilgrimage to Craigenputtock, and more
recently to Haddington, Grateful as I am to him, pro-
foundly as I respect him, I was never his slave. In his want
of sensibility to his wife and in her proud silences you see
something more interesting than is to be fouled in any novel.
Wherever manhood is respected, wherever courage and
worth are honoured, wherever gratitude is felt towards one
who, coming with a coal of fire to touch our lips, brings us
again within the world of spirits, this movement has a
claim."

On December 4, 1895, the centenary of Carlyle's birth,
Courtney took part in the formal opening of the House as
a museum. Mr. Morley, who was in the chair, declared

310 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

that the popular title of the Sage of Chelsea was singularly
inappUcable to the old prophet and preacher ; but that
if he had to find a man who deserved it, he would not
have far to look. The recipient of this generous tribute
retained his interest in the house till his death, and was
never tired of conducting friends and visitors through its
rooms.

In addition to taking his share in the excursions and
alarums of party politics Courtney's mind was occupied
with other grave problems of national warfare. The
recurrence of industrial and agricultural depression forced
statesmen and economists to search for its causes and
remedies ; and some turned to Bimetallism as others to
Protection. The contention that two metals would vary
less than one was presented to the House of Commons at
the beginning of the session of 1893 ; and the debate was
rendered memorable by a brilliant rejoinder from the Prime
Minister. The veteran financier argued that though gold
varied, it varied less than silver, and that, though such
variation affected fixed incomes and fixed charges, it con-
cerned ordinary bujdng and selling in a very minor degree.
His main theme, however, was the practical difficulty
involved in the change. Bimetallism, he declared, would
enable debtors to cheat their creditors by discharging
their debts in a depreciated currency ; and if such an
alteration was threatened every creditor would at once
insist on full repayment in gold.

The speech led Courtney to expound his views in an
article entitled " BimetaUism Once More," which appeared
in the Nineteenth Century and attracted considerable atten-
tion. As a debating achievement, he began, Gladstone's
performance was miraculous, and the yoimgest might have
envied its vivacity. Its tone was rightly conservative, for
changes should only be made if more injustice is involved
in inaction. " I now for the first time venture to put forth
some opinions of my own, not until after much hesitation,
and only under the cogency of a beUef that there is a serious
argument worthy of being examined." He had indeed
already examined it. " I was one of the six members of the

^^^^uX ca ^ <2^^ ^^^^4^*P

To face pa^e 310.

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 311

Gold and Silver Commission who could not recommend
bimetallism, and who traced the recent fall in prices rather
to causes touching the commodities than to the appreciation
of gold. We added that we were far from denying that
there might have been some appreciation, though we could
not determine its extent. Let me make a confession. I
hesitated a little about this paragraph. I thought there
was perhaps more in the suggestion than my colleagues
believed. I am now satisfied that the appreciation was
greater than I then suspected." Turning to Gladstone's
contention that gold had varied but httle, he rejoins that
incessant variations in its purchasing power were revealed
in the index numbers. For instance between 1850 and
1864, during the gold discoveries, prices rose 30 per cent,
and between 1873 and 1893 fell 30 per cent. Therefore
gold, measured by its command of commodities, was not a
stable standard. If the cause of variation lay in the condi-
tions governing the production of commodities, why did
the ciurrent flow so powerfully first in one direction and
then in the other ? In recent years we had been passing
through a period of appreciation, and no one could tell how
long it would last. Silver, on the other hand, had remained
steady in relation to commodities, falling Hke them, but no
faster. If gold was as unstable as silver and had hampered
industry and commerce by its recent appreciation, men
might well ask. Why not go back to the days before 1873
when the members of the Latin Union recognised both
metals as legal tender ? Accounts could then be paid in
doUars or francs, pounds or rupees indifferently ; for their
ratio was fixed, and the variations of exchange were not
beyond the narrow limits of the cost of transmitting bullion.
The effects of the depreciation or appreciation of either
metal were minimised, since they were diffused over the
widest area. With the rupture of the bimetallic tie the
ratio had changed enormously. " Five years ago I joined
in deprecating any attempt to establish an international
agreement for the free coinage of gold and silver. I have
advanced with further experience and reflection to the beUef
that it is to be desired." If we adopted Bimetallism most

312 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Powers would follow, though the fixing of the ratio might
prove a difficult task.

The heretic returned to the charge at the end of the
session, when Mr. ChapUn attacked the Government for
sanctioning the closing of the Indian mints to the free
coinage of silver. In reply Harcourt sheltered himself
behind the Report of the Royal Commission of 1888, which
pointed out the danger of Bimetallism in India. Courtney,
who had been claimed by the opener as a recent convert,
rose to correct Harcourt's statement that Lord Herschell
and his colleagues had condemned Bimetallism. Ten of
the twelve members were convinced of the possibiUty of
maintaining an international ratio between gold and silver ;
but Bimetalhsm was not before them. They were simply
asked whether there was any reason for rejecting the pro-
posals of the Indian Government. As a matter of fact the
Indian Government would have preferred Bimetallism, and
only proposed to stop the free coinage of rupees as a pis
alley, in order to limit the quantity and keep the ratio steady.
Lord Herschell and his colleagues assented to this demand,
and the faU of the rupee was arrested. Courtney's leaning
to BimetaUism was shared by Mr. Balfour, and to some
degree by Goschen ; but most of the economists were
against them, and there was little prospect of securing
international co-operation. A change of such disturbing
magnitude could only be made under the compulsion of bad
times ; and as the horizon brightened the cry died away.

A new and important task was undertaken in the spring
of 1893 in accepting the invitation to preside over a Royal
Commission on London Government. Among his colleagues
was an old and valued friend who had sat with him on the
Gold and Silver Commission.

To Lord Farrer

March 26, 1893. — I hope London will not prove as difficult
as silver ; but it cannot be very easy. The exact reference has
not yet been given me ; but I understand it is to devise a plan
for bringing the City and the County Council into one, at least
for larger purposes. I rejoice we are only five.

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 313

The work was congenial but laborious, for the road was
encumbered by vested interests.

To Sir John Scott

February 2, 1894. — I have the London Unification Commission
now in hand, — a troublesome job, the City being in temper and
mind most difficult to handle, perhaps not so bad as a young
Khedive. Though we, the Commissioners, may propound a
fair solution, I doubt whether Parhament under any Government
would soon take it up and carry it through.

The Report appeared in the early autumn of 1894 and
was received with a chorus of approval. " Have you not
been very proud and happy lately ? " wrote Mrs. Bamett
to Mrs. Courtney. "To do such a job, and to do it so
wisely that all sorts say ' Well done,' is a triumph."

From Lord Farrer

October 3, 1894. — From what I heard at the L.C.C. I think
you might be the first Lord Mayor of United London. I say
this in spite of Bimetallism !

The Government which appointed the Commission fell
before it could carry out its recommendations ; and the
Chairman had to wait till 1899 to reap some of the fruits
of his labours. While busily engaged on the problem of
London government Courtney continued his attendance at
the Royal Commission on Labour, which had been appointed
in 1890 under the Chairmanship of Lord Hartington and
accumulated vast masses of miscellaneous information.
He approached his task with a deep distrust of short cuts
to reform, which was strengthened as witness after witness
marched across the stage and paraded his panacea.

To Sir John Scott

February 2, 1894. — I am anxious about the future of the
Poor Law. Many wild ideas are about. My attitude threatens
now to give me trouble in my constituency, especially as a phrase
of mine has been twisted into a charge against labourers that

314 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

their highest ambition is to get outdoor relief. This we may
hope to survive ; but a flabby sociaHsm working through the
machinery of the Poor Law may do infinite mischief to the
nation. As to the Labour Commission, we shall have done much
good work in collecting and arranging evidence, and the Report
of the great majority will be full of good sense ; but as it will
be more negative than positive, exposing the futihty of many
suggestions and supporting few, it may be received with a feeling
of disappointment.

The session of 1895 opened with dissolution in the air.
Courtney dined with the leader of the Liberal Unionists at
Devonshire House, and found some of his friends expecting
the Government to be defeated on the Address. On the
last day of the debate he informed the Ministers that they
had exhausted their authority and should go to the country
on Home Rule. If they preferred to remain in office, they
should stick to humdrum legislation. The claim of the
House of Commons, and especially of a feeble, uncertain
majority, to represent the nation was imjustified ; for the
nation was represented by the two Houses jointly. If,
however, the Prime Minister desired to fight on the issue
of the Lords, his opponents would gladly take up the chal-
lenge. Despite this vigorous attack the support of Liberal
measures in 1893 and 1894 rendered him an object of sus-
picion to some of his Conservative constituents. He had
no complaint to make of such criticisms, to which his creed
inevitably exposed its adherents ; but he declined to
purchase the retention of his seat by the sacrifice of a jot
or tittle of independence, and made it clear that if his
views were disapproved he must seek another constituency.
Lord Moimt Edgcmnbe, though himself a critic, implored
him to promise to remain, assuring him that if he would
stick to the constituency his constituents would stand by
him.

From Lord Mount Edgcumbe

April 18. — ^The arguments I should use in support of your
candidature would be (i) that no one could uphold the interests
of the constituency with greater abihty or less self-seeking ;
(2) that you are as straight as a die, and make no professions

XIV ABOVE THE BATTLE 315

that you will not carry out ; (3) that you are thoroughly staunch
on Home Rule. The crossing of the stream cannot be far off,
and a change of horses now would be a great misfortune, involv-
ing not only the uncertainty of finding another candidate, but
probably also opening up the embittering question of whether
the seat is to be regarded as Conservative or Liberal Unionist.

The correspondence was closed by a cordial letter from
Cheyne Walk.

To Lord Mount Edgcumbe

April 29, 1895. — I am much obUged by your letter, which
is very pleasant reading to me. I wiU not desert the constituency
as long as, retaining the freedom I have exercised in the past,
I am assured of the hearty support of your pohtical friends.
It was the uncertain or even unfriendly attitude of some of those
that tempted me to consider other suggestions. I hope you
will have no difficulty at your meeting. I tried to make it plain
at Liskeard as well as at Plymouth and elsewhere that I claimed
a continued allowance of freedom, and if the members of the
Council, having my speech before them, are of your mind and
spirit, there will be no thought on my part of leaving the division.

CHAPTER XV

THE SPEAKER S CHAIR

Before the session of 1895 was more than a month old an
event occurred which closely concerned Courtney's fortunes,
and which for a few crowded hours seemed likely to deter-
mine the remainder of his public career.

Journal

Saturday, March 9. — Leonard picks up the Times before
going out to the Breakfast Club and reads out the startling
news that the Speaker is to resign immediately, as soon as a
successor can be agreed upon. Who will it be ? Though it
might and would be mortifying to be passed over, we do not
want it. But of course there is no danger, as the Times leader
says that some member of the Ministerial party will have that
splendid post. The difficulty is that there is no obviously good
name outside the Government. Inside Campbell-Bannerman
is the favourite. Sir Robert Reid and Arnold Morley are also
mentioned. The Westminster Gazette heads for Leonard, but
fears the Government must have one of their own party. My
feelings are very mixed, but I feel very sad at the possibility
of giving up our present hfe. We are both ridiculously fond of
our home and our freedom. " Rather Uke being dead and
buried," said L. to Mr. Roby, who replied, " But with a splendid
funeral,"

The Speaker had always been chosen by the party in
power from the ranks of its supporters, but in the present
instance the Government had no candidate obviously
qualified for the post, and the failure of Mr. Mellor, the

316

THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR

317

Chairman of Committees during the 1892 ParUament, threw
into strong relief the vigorous reign of his predecessor.
Moreover, though Courtney remained one of the most con-
vinced and formidable enemies of Home Rule, he had
rendered the Liberal Party valuable support with the rest
of their programme. For this very reason, however, he
was unacceptable to the Opposition, who confidently
expected to be installed in office within a few months and
naturally desired a Conservative to occupy the Chair.
Under these circumstances the sudden resignation of Speaker
Peel on the ground of health created a personal issue of the
kind which enthrals the House of Commons and sets every
tongue in the poUtical world and in " society " wagging.
The Liberal Press spoke out strongly for Courtney.
" Whether chosen or not," wrote the Daily Chronicle,
" there is only one opinion that he ought to be." The Daily
News appealed to the undisputed fact that he had proved
himself by far the best Chairman of Committees of his
generation. The Times, on the other hand, while praising
his ability, knowledge and inflexible fairness, argued that
he was only a httle younger than the retiring Speaker, that
he could scarcely bear the burden for more than a few years,
and that frequent changes in the occupancy of the Chair
were undesirable. The situation developed rapidly, and
there seemed every chance of a contested election for the
first time since 1839.

Journal

Monday, March 11. — Lobbies and newspapers full of gossip.
It soon becomes apparent that the opposition to him comes
from the Conservatives, with a few Radicals. The Tory favourite
is Sir Matthew White Ridley, a sensible, pleasant -tempered
squire.

Tuesday. — Go to my W.L.U. Committee. I am an interesting
person. All my ladies look sympathetic but say nothing.
Lady Frances Balfour comes away with me. She feels sure
that L. is the Ministerial choice, but warns me that there is
mischief ahead among the Conservatives and that L. must not
accept nomination without an understanding from the Con-
servative leaders that they will not oppose him in a future

3i8 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Parliament. The situation is no doubt difficult, the Govern-
ment with a very narrow majority, the Tory party not recognising
L. as one of themselves. Mr. Chamberlain did not approve of
L.'s refusal of closure and probably thinks he would be a wrong-
headed Speaker.

Wednesday. — Come home from Lord Brassey's to find one
word from John Morley to me. It murders sleep.

From John Morley

95 Elm Park Gardens,
March 13, '95.
Very secret.

Dear Mrs. Courtney,
Prepare.

Yours, J. M.

Thursday, March 14. — ^Telegram from Harcourt asking
L. to come and see him in Downing Street. He says, " It may
seem absurd, but I am in despair at leaving this house." Yet
I see the opposition is making him tend to accept. After
breakfast I go to see John Morley, who kindly told me a good
deal. " The Cabinet had decided against one of their number,
though C.-B. would hke it." I asked if it would not be a relief
to them for L. to refuse it. " No, it would put them in a great
fix. They would not accept a Conservative candidate. Why
should not L. take it ? He was the best man, and we should
get used to it and in a few months we should not mind the routine.
What else will he do ? Of course the Conservatives would ask
him to join their next Cabinet ; but would he feel comfortable
among them ? " I asked about the opposition to L. He said
on their side it was small and would collapse directly the
Government announced their decision formally. No arrange-
ments had been come to with the Tories, but of course L. would
see the Duke of Devonshire, and of course he and Chamberlain
would insist on their alUes behaving decently to one of their
leading men.

Courtney's engagement with Harcourt was for 2 o'clock,
and his first instinct was to consult his old leader. On
reaching Devonshire House, however, he was informed that
the Duke was closeted with Lord Salisbury and Mr. Chamber-
lain, and would see him later on at the House. Harcourt,
as he expected, offered him the nomination and pressed for

XV THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR 319

an immediate decision, which was naturally refused. Meet-
ing the Duke at the House he learned that the Tories would
oppose now, and again in the next Parliament. " I suppose
you are too impartial for them. They are getting very
confident of a big majority when the election comes, and it
may not be easy to form a CoaUtion Government. How
would you Hke to find yourself a Viscount in three months ? "
The Duke was certainly not encouraging, and Chamberlain,
the next friend to be consulted, merely remarked that the
matter would be discussed at a meeting of the Liberal
Unionist members. From Chamberlain Courtney passed
to the room of the Leader of the Opposition, who did not
mince matters. His candidature, declared Mr. Balfour,
would be opposed by the Conservatives now, and the
Opposition would probably be renewed in the next Parha-
ment. He was shocked that he should think of such a post,
when he was doing work of such value as an independent
member ; and he dehcately hinted that he was too old for
the post. After this douche of cold water he determined
not to stand, and on the following morning he informed the
Leader of the House of his decision.

To Sir William Harcourt

March 15. — I was getting over my first aversion in the
thought that I might perhaps do some good in this of&ce, but
I find my six years' service in the subordinate Chair has not
commanded general satisfaction and there would be strenuous
opposition now and if necessary hereafter. In these circum-
stances my old feeling revives with invincible strength. I
hope this will not give you much trouble ; and in dismissing
the subject I must again thank you for the very kind way you
proposed it.

To his sister Margaret

March 16. — I told Harcourt yesterday that I could not accept
his offer. There was every prospect, indeed a certainty of united
Conservative opposition, and I was told also that the opposition,
if unsuccessful now, would be renewed in a new Parliament.
This threat might not be carried out, but one could not be sure.
Accordingly I declined, and it is a great relief to us, to Kate

320 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

as much as myself, if not more — but we axe both vexed at the
way the reUef has come. The Conservatives are very small
creatures.

His decision was received with mixed feelings by his
friends.

From William Rathbone {to Mrs. Courtney)

March 15. — I was very sorry to hear that Courtney had
dechned a contest for the Speaker's, — very sorrj'^ for the House ;
but for him there will be much to be said for not being buried
alive in the prime of his intellect and energies which I trust may
do great things for the country. Harcourt's opinion is that
he was the best Chairman of the House he in his long experi-
ence had ever seen. I don't know if I told you that dining
with Gladstone at Dollis Hill a few days after Courtney had
called him very peremptorily to order he broke out into enthusi-
astic praise of his clear, quick, just judgment, firmness and
impartiality ; and Harcourt, whom Courtney had called to
order oftener than most, entirely agreed with him. Indeed
I think all our front bench agree and will be very much dis-
appointed. A man may be too just and strong for mean men
and must take the consequences which in this case will, I hope
and beheve, be for his happiness, usefulness and fame.

From Sir Henry James {to Mrs. Courtney)

March 20. — Your husband and I have been too long in close
aUiance for me not to recognise all his sterling good quaUties,
and his candidature would have had no sincerer supporter than
myself.

From T. B. Bolitho {M.P. for West Cornwall)
to Mrs. Courtney

March 20. — Thank you very much for your confidence.
You must have had a trying ten days, but I can easily understand
that the chief person concerned, having done that which he
thought best for the interests of the House, remains calm,
dignified and unsoured even by unexpected defections. Of all
men in the House I know of no one so unhkely as your husband
to resort to the pernicious system of lobbying. The attitude
of the Conservatives is perhaps not unnatural, but if they don't

rv THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR 321

take care they will jeopardise the relations between themselves
and the Liberal Unionists. I've been burning with indignation
at the report that many — or even any — Liberal Unionists should
be opposed to your husband. If any of our Leaders have been
secretly undermining his chance, I for one am quite ready to
denounce such action.

From Mrs. Meinertzhagen {to Mrs. Courtney)

I am so glad Leonard has refused to be in a competition for
the Speakership. He ought to have it as a matter of course.
That comes of helping those horrid, ungrateful Tories. You'll
see they'll throw all the Liberal Unionists on one side, whenever
they can stand on their legs without them. I hope the Liberals
will stick to their man and not give the nomination over to the
Tories. I hope they'll find Leonard less pleasant out of the
Chair than he would have been in it.

From Lady Frances Balfour {to Mrs. Courtney)

I think, and have thought, and have said, that the Con-
servatives have made a mistake in this matter, a mistake they
will pay for. Arthur could not but tell the facts to Mr. Courtney.
There was opposition from all quarters of the House. I don't
think he did think him the right man for the Chair, but apart
from that, it was his business to find out, and I know long before
the Government spoke to Mr. Courtney he was made aware
that it would not be unopposed. Your husband has had his
own theories as to a Chairman's duty, and it may be summed up
roughly in this way, " the protection of the minority." Now we
all know that when Chairman it was from this point of view he was
steadily and persistently criticised. He knew it — it was matter
of public comment how good-humouredly unmoved he was when
made aware (say at a dinner party) of the strong feeling he had
excited. He took that view of his post, and everyone respected
his sticking to his views ; but he never persuaded the people
he was right, he only convinced them he had a strong individuality
and was no respecter of persons. You must pay for individuality,
and this opposition is the pa5mient.

After receiving the condolences or congratulations of
his friends for a week, Courtney once more found himself in
the world's gaze. His refusal to stand had completely up-
set the plans of the Government, who naturally declined to

Y

322 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

accept a Tory Speaker and had no suitable candidate of
their own, since Campbell-Bannerman, who wished for the
post, could not be spared. They therefore informally
renewed the offer, after preparing the way by a visit from
John Morley. The Chief Secretary pressed his old friend
to accept, assuring him of an undivided Ministerial vote
except for a handful of malcontents led by Labouchere,
whose defection would be offset by Liberal Unionist support.
Courtney thereupon marched off to Downing Street and
promised Harcourt an answer in a day or two. His position
now was that if the Liberal Unionists not only promised
to vote for him if he stood but actually wished him to stand,
he would accept the nomination.

To his sister Margaret

March 23. — Just a line to keep you in the running. The
Government are pressing me in many ways to consent to be
nominated, and so are some Liberal Unionists. The situation
has moreover changed now Campbell-Bannerman is withdrawn,
and the Government nevertheless will not accept White Ridley.
So I wrote Chamberlain yesterday afternoon asking him to call
our party together, and I would abide absolutely by their
decision.

To Joseph Chamberlain

March 22. — I am much pressed to reconsider my refusal to
be proposed for the Speakership. The offer is not attractive
to me, though I am assured and may be inclined to believe that
I could be of use in it ; but the discussions and criticisms of the
last ten days have produced a reaction so that I am not unwilling
to accept what I am still far from coveting. I desire however
to be guided by the judgment of our party. I would ask you
therefore to call the Liberal Unionist members together and put
the matter before them. Many things could be said and argu-
ments used which could not perhaps be easily addressed to
myself, and they (the Liberal Unionists members) would be able
to determine without prejudice what is best. I am prepared to
abide absolutely by their decision.

P.S. — It must not be supposed that the Government have
asked me again to allow my name to be put forward, but I have
reason to think that if I were ready to consent an invitation
would be forthcoming.

XV THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR 323

To Joseph Chamberlain

March 24. — A complaint may be raised at the meeting of our
friends to-morrow that I have thrown a great responsibility
on them, without indicating upon what considerations I would
have them base their decision. I hope they will decide upon
pubUc grounds alone. Any private interest or supposed private
interest of mine is of the smallest importance compared with
the public interests involved and must not be allowed to govern
their decision. I am giving you a good deal of trouble.

The meeting of the Liberal Unionists was held on Monday,
March 25 ; but as the notice was short the attendance was
small. The meeting decided against the candidature, and
in the course of the afternoon a brief telegram (" No !
Leonard ") announced the news to Cheyne Walk. Before
walking home he despatched the news to Penzance.

To his sister Margaret

You will probably see the news in the W.M.N. , but I must
write a line before going home to Kate — I should be too late
there. The Liberal Unionist members to-day decided unani-
mously against any Liberal Unionist standing in opposition to
M. W. Ridley ; and this ends the matter. It is a great relief
to have it over.

The result of the meeting was formally communicated the
same evening by its Chairman.

From Joseph Chamberlain

March 25. — A meeting of the Liberal Unionist members
was held here this afternoon in accordance with your request,
and your two letters were laid before them. The subject was
fully discussed with sole reference to the great pubHc interests
involved, and the following resolution was unanimously passed :

That this meeting of the Liberal Unionist members of
ParUament, being informed that Sir M. White Ridley will be
nominated for the Speakership by their Conservative allies,
is of opinion that the name of no Liberal Unionist candidate
should be submitted in opposition.

In forwarding this Resolution, which was arrived at in
response to your desire and is guided by the judgment of your

324 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

party, I am unanimously requested to express to you at the
SEime time the high estimation in which you are held by all your
colleagues and their sense of the patriotic spirit with which
you have been ready to subordinate personal claims to wider
considerations of pubHc interest.

An unofficial account of the meeting was despatched to
Chelsea the same evening.

From T. B. Bolitho {to Mrs. Courtney)

March 25. — You will have heard all about it. A small meeting,
about twenty — everything said of your husband which could be
desired. For the resolution all but four or five voted. Of
course no good could have come of moving an amendment.

After the final decision letters of condolence and regret
again poured in, from Home Rulers no less than Unionists.

From W. S. Caine {to Mrs. Courtney)

March 28. — I cannot trace the devious paths by which
Mr. Courtney has been diverted from the Speakership for which
he was designated by every member of the House who has the
true interests of Parliament at heart ; but I would Uke, if I
may, to tell you how keenly and bitterly disappointed I am at
the result, and how impossible it appears to me to find any
worthy successor to Mr. Peel apart from Mr. Courtney. I
believe, even in spite of the unhappy decision of the party leaders
with whom he is associated, if your husband could have seen his
way to accept nomination, all opposition would have faded
away, and his would eventually have been the only name sub-
mitted to the House. Even if it had been otherwise, he would
have been elected by a very large majority. Every member
whose opinion is worth having among the Liberal party has
been soHdly for Mr. Courtney all along, and I wish I were able
to convey to you the profound esteem and respect in which your
husband is everywhere held in all quarters of the House. To
me personally it will be a matter of hfelong regret that the
House has lost a Speaker whose term of office would have been
historic, and who I fear is the only man who could have piloted
us with prosperity and dignity through the troubled waters
through which we must sail in the early future. However
I can only hope that Mr. Courtney is reserved for even higher
service to the State.

XV THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR 325

A different view was expressed in a letter from the
Manager of the Times, which had opposed his candidature
throughout.

From C. Moberly Bell {to Mrs. Courtney)

April 3. — Rightly or wrongly I felt that your husband would
be wasted as the Speaker. It is a very honourable position —
of great influence in the House, but of no influence at all outside.
Witness the fact that even to-day they can't decide whether
Mr. Peel was a Liberal Unionist or a Gladstonian. AU this is
as it should be ; but people who have definite opinions, who do
not vote aye or no solely according to party, are so unfortunately
rare that it seems to me preposterous to choose one of those few
and place him where it becomes his duty to suppress all his
personal convictions.

After Courtney's second and final refusal of the nomina-
tion, the Government fell back on Mr. Gully, who, though
a popular K.C. on the Northern Circuit, was said never to
have spoken in the House or sat on any Committee. The
final scene in the drama took place when the Commons met
on April 10 to choose a new Speaker. " After Mr. Whit-
bread and Mr. Birrell had duly proposed and seconded
Mr. Gully, and Sir John Mowbray and Mr. Wharton had
done the same for Sir M. White Ridley," writes an eye-
witness, Mr. Basil Williams, then a House of Commons'
clerk, " the two candidates addressed the House. Mr.
GuUy made a fairly good speech, but Sir Matthew's was
better in dignity and style. At this stage the House as a
whole was evidently more in favour of Ridley ; he was
much respected on all sides of the House, and on this
occasion he and his proposer had made the better im-
pression. The Liberals, too, knew so httle of Gully that
they could hardly be expected to feel nmch enthusiasm
for him. At this point, however, the Liberals' backs were
stiffened by an unfortunate speech of Mr. Balfour's, who
attacked the Government for proposing so inexperienced a
candidate, and threatened to turn him out in the next
ParUament. Thereupon up leapt Sir William Harcourt in
a towering passion to defend the Government's choice.

326 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Why, in effect, he said to the Tories, have we had to make
this choice ? ' I will tell the House why. Mr. Gully was
a second choice forced on us, because you rejected the man
we had chosen ' — turning round and looking to Courtney,
where he sat on the third bench below the gangway — ' the
man who of all others is evidently fitted by his experience
and his qualities for this post.* ^ This great tribute to
Courtney, while it incidentally won the Government their
case, made the debate end more as a triumph for the man
who had refused to be put forward, since he was denied the
imanimous assent of his own party, than a decision on the
merits of the two actual candidates for the Chair. Courtney
himself looked on grimly humorous, as was his wont, and
left the House without voting."

When the battle was over the Ministerial Press gave free
rein to its chagrin. The Daily News iattributed the result
to Courtney's refusal to be a hewer of wood and drawer of
water for the Tory party In an article entitled " Exit
Aristides," the Westminster Gazette explained the situation
in fuller detail. " He was ruled out because the Tories
opposed him and because the Liberal Unionists did not
strongly support him. One heard frequent allusions to the
Evicted Tenants Bill. Lord Sahsbury gave us a foretaste
some months ago when he ridiculed and abused him at the
Queen's HaU and fell foul of his proposals for the unification
of London. The fact is that he is the last of the Liberal
Unionists — that is, the last of the Liberals, who, in defending
the Union, have not found it necessary to throw over their
Liberahsm." The resentment felt by some of his Liberal
friends, however, was before very long to be mitigated by
the unexpected development of events. " Either Courtney
or Campbell-Bannerman in my opinion would have done
well," wrote Sir Wilfrid Lawson a few years later ; " yet
it was probably better that for one cause or another both
teU through. Some years later Courtney became one of the

^ Note by Mr. Basil Williams. — I find on referring to Hansard that
Harcourt's words are not reported, on the ground that they were drowned
in cheers. I was perhaps more fortunate than the reporters, as Harcourt
was facing towards the part of the House where I was sitting and had
his back to the reporters' gallery.

XV THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR 327

best and bravest of the Pro-Boers, whose courage in the
cause of peace and justice ennobled our pubHc life. Had
either of them become Speaker we should probably have
lost them from our fighting forces." ^

Though the final result was a momentary disappointment.
Aristides himself shed no tears over his fate. He was of
course well aware that he was better fitted for the post by
knowledge and experience than any of his competitors, and
the attainment of one of the highest offices in the State
would have been a new feather in the cap of the Penzance
lad who owed nothing to birth or fortune. Yet he cared
so little for the distinction that he tvi-ice dechned the nomina-
tion which carried with it the certainty of election. The
Leader of the House jocularly complained to Mr. Asquith
that he was trying to get the cock to fight ; but Courtney
had too much respect for his own dignity to allow himself
to be imposed on a dissentient minority. Though he
shrewdly suspected that his cross-bench mind would con-
tinue to bar the way to Cabinet rank, he once more displayed
an almost quixotic indifference to personal considerations,
and he never regretted his choice

To a Correspondent

April 15. — As for the Speakership I rejoice in my freedom.
I looked with something like dread at the possibility of being
absorbed — swallowed up — extinguished in the duties of that
office ; and as I cannot doubt they will be well discharged by
Mr. Gully I do not think I can reproach myself from shrinking
from the submersion.

A few days later he surveyed the events of an exciting
month in an address to his constituents in Liskeard. " I
am better, you are better, we are all better, that the Speaker-
ship has not come to me. From the beginning I dreaded
rather than desired the great post. It was not because I
was afraid I should be defeated that I did not stand. I
believe if I had been nominated I should have got a con-
siderable majority. The Speaker is a great man, but in

^ G. W. E. Russell, Life of Sir W. Lawson, p. 226.

328 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap, xv

regard to politics he is like the Great Llama. He stands
aside. He must never discuss them. I have maintained
my freedom, and at a great price. The thing I treasure
above everything else is to maintain an independent seat in
the House of Commons, strengthened by your affection."
The lack of unanimity in the House and the preservation
of his independence had been sufficient reasons for declining
the guttering prize. The wisdom of his decision was
questioned at the time by many of his friends, and again a
few months later, when Gully was quietly reinstated in the
Chair by the victorious Unionists ; but it was to be ratified
in the following year by an event which it was equally
impossible to forecast and to evade.

CHAPTER XVI

THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM

A FEW weeks after Gully was installed in the Speaker's
Chair the Government was defeated on the vote for cordite.
No one had expected it to Hve long, for the majority had
steadily dwindled. Shortly before the fatal moment Har-
court had left the Chamber with the remark, " This is very
flat " ; and, seeing Labouchere, he called out jocularly,
" Can't you get up a crisis for us ? " So little importance
was attached to the division that Courtney returned to the
Hbrary after he had voted, not waiting for the announce-
ment of the figures.^ Lord Rosebery at once resigned a
position which he bitterly described as responsibility without
power, and Lord Salisbury formed a Coahtion Government.
It was generally expected that Courtney would be invited
to join. The Times placed him as a matter of course in the
Cabinet ; and a cartoon of F. C. G. represented a scene of
musical chairs with the Prime Minister at the piano and the
Member for East Cornwall amongst the few who had already
found a seat. Lord Spencer and John Morley expressed
their conviction that he would be offered an important post,
and the latter seriously remonstrated against his anticipated
reluctance to accept it. A rumour that he would receive the
Post Office without Cabinet rank annoyed his family, but
pleased him on the ground that no one would expect him to

^ For the first and last time he voted without knowing what the
division was about. He had been reading in the hbrary, and, when the
bell rang, asked Sir Henry James and other friends, who mischievously
told him that it was nothing in particular and that he would agree with
his party.

329

330 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

take it. He desired office even less than he had desired the
Speakership ; for he remained a Liberal and could hardly
expect to find himself at home in a Cabinet controlled by
Lord Salisbury and Joseph Chamberlain. All speculations,
however, were soon set at rest by a letter from the Prime
Minister.

From Lord Salisbury

June 30, 1895. — ^A Coalition Government is necessarily formed
with some regard to the numerical proportions of the two sections
on whose support it relies. Arithmetical considerations neces-
sarily receive a weight, at least at first, which it is not pleasant
to assign to them. But the four members of the Liberal Unionist
party now in the Cabinet exceed the proportion which the Liberal
Unionists bear to the party as a whole ; and I could not at this
moment go further still without running the risk of heart-burnings
of perilous intensity. I have inflicted this exordium upon you in
order to explain why I have been unable to offer you a place in
the Cabinet, and of course it would have been idle to ofier you
any other. Do not understand me to be so arrogant as to assume
that you would have accepted such an offer if it had been made.
That would have been, and probably may be in the future, a
question you will have to determine for yourself. But my own
part in the matter requires thus much of defence. It seems very
probable that after the General Election some revision of the
arrangements now proposed may become necessary. I hope that
intermediately you may not see cause to disapprove of the
Government's action.

To Lord Salisbury

LiSKEARD, July 3, 1895. — Your letter of the 30th reached me
here this morning, and I write to thank you heartily for this very
frank and friendly communication. Explanation was indeed
scarcely necessary as I had pretty weU understood how the case
lay without it ; but it is none the less agreeable because it confirms
what I had thought. As to the future that must be allowed in
great measure to take care of itself ; but I think I may say with
certainty that my own action wiU not in any degree be warped
by any ranlding feelings, which indeed would be wholly un-
justifiable. I think you will understand me when I confess I
draw some satisfaction from the fact that I have not had to
consider any embarrassing proposal. I am naturally very busy
here, though my friends are (I think with reason) very sanguine,
and you must be busier still.

xvx THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 331

Once again Courtney fought the election on Home Rule.
" The Bill," he declared in his address, " was laid aside,
apparently to the complete contentment of the nation.
Ireland itself has remained profoundly calm. I trust the
coming elections will finally dissipate the demand for a
separate Irish Legislature. It wiU be the duty of the
Unionist Government to estabUsh County Councils and to
carry a hberally conceived Land Bill." Whatever might
have been the merits of the Liberal Government it had been
condemned by its congenital weakness to plough the sands,
and it had succeeded in making formidable enemies. Lord
SaUsbury was confirmed in office by acclamation, and Court-
ney was re-elected by a majority of 543. To the faithful
Roby, who had lost his seat, Courtney's position seemed
" very inconvenient, — Liberal poUtics and Tory supporters,
with Tory and pseudo-Liberal chiefs turning you the cold
shoulder." Inconvenient though it was, compensations
were not lacking, for he returned home with his declaration
of independence countersigned by his constituents. The
Conservatives had loyally rallied to his support, and in his
speech after the poU he celebrated the triumph of non-party
views over " the falsehood of extremes."

In the autumn Courtney and his wife started for a holiday
in Egypt under the auspices of Sir John Scott, now Judicial
Adviser to the Khedive, who had long urged his old friend to
pay him a visit. He had spent a fortnight in Alexandria
and Cairo on his way to India in 1875 ; but he now fulfilled
his ambition to sail up the Nile and study the results of the
British occupation in detail. The visitor paid his respects
to Lord Cromer, who presented him to the young Khedive,
renewed his acquaintance with Nubar, whom he had met in
Paris, and heard from Slatin Pasha the story of his captivity
in the Mahdi's camp and his romantic escape. After tasting
the delights of Cairo he accompanied Sir John on his annual
tour up the Nile to inspect the Courts of Justice and to give
advice to the village magistrates. The journey embraced the
rarely visited Fayum, and conversations with the village and
district officials gave him an insight into the working of native
institutions. Though he was now sixty-three years old, his

332 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

energy astonished his companions, and he was usually the
latest to bed and the earUest to rise of the party. He met
Flinders Petrie in the Tombs of the Kings, and on his return
to the capital made the acquaintance of Tigrane Pasha and
visited the Government's new Giris' School under the
guidance of Artin Pasha, the Minister of Education. The
closing days of the hohday were darkened by the ominous
news of Cleveland's message and the Jameson Raid. The
travellers reached home at the end of January 1896, after
an absence of ten weeks.

The atmosphere of the new Parliament was tranquil
enough, for the Opposition were depressed by their defeat
and the Nationalists were disunited. But though the
strength of the Government in the House and the country
was beyond challenge, their prestige suffered a damaging
blow in the first session. An ambitious Education Bill was
introduced, instructing County Councils to appoint a Com-
mittee to supervise and supplement the School Board ; but
the proposed aid to Voluntary Schools aroused' a hornet's
nest. Courtney as usual sympathised with parts of the
rival cases. " I am for undenominational education," he
wrote in a letter to the Times on May 29, " but I am
ready for a grant to voluntary schools." This could be
done without time or trouble by a Treasury grant, and
assistance from local resources could be provided by a
separate Bill in the following year. If rate-aid were to be
given, representatives of the community must be added to
the management. At a party meeting at the Carlton Club
Mr. Balfour proposed that Parhament should be adjourned in
August and meet again early in January to conclude the
Bill. " Only Leonard Courtney," writes an eye-witness,
" hfted up his voice against what appeared to all of us an
obviously absurd proposition directly we left the room." ^
Exactly a week later Mr. Balfour announced the abandon-
ment of the Bill. The collapse was claimed as a triumph by
the Opposition ; but the Daily Mail declared that the Bill
had been killed by the Unionist Member for East Cornwall.

During the Easter hohdays Courtney despatched a

^ A. Griffith-Boscawen, Fourteen Years in Parliament, pp. 104-5.

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 333

political bulletin to his late host in Cairo, survejdng the
opening work of the session and his own position in the
House.

To Sir John Scott

April 15, 1896. — The Government have got their hands full in
ParHament just now quite apart from foreign and colonial affairs.
Their Education Bill is rather gratuitously big and provocative.
I do not suppose they will be defeated on any serious detail or
even humiUated ; but if the Bill is to be pushed in its entirety,
it will occupy a great space of the session and yield numberless
divisions. Many of its provisions are distinctly bad and unfair.
Then Gerald Balfour brought in on Monday an Irish Land Bill
which took him three hours to introduce, and the provisions of
which are so complex and novel that even if it was submitted to
a friendly Committee sitting round a table it might occupy some
weeks. The character of this BiU is good, but where is the time
for getting it through ParHament ? Add to these two Bills (and
there are others) the Budget which comes on to-morrow night.
It will probably contain a big bonus for landowners by way of
alleviating rates, and if so will be hard fought. Altogether the
work cut out for us between this and August is more than can be
squeezed into the time ; and, though all Governments prepare
more than they complete, this Government is unusually ambitious.
They are perhaps relying on the broken and distracted state of
the Opposition, which has hitherto been very noticeable. But
the Education Bill will bind them together, although the Irish
members may often support the Government. My own position
in the House is not unhappy. I am indeed very much alone.
I have no party nor do I try to make one ; but this perhaps adds
to the attention paid to my utterances, which seem received with
respect. Extreme partisans of the Government doubtless resent
my criticisms, but with the members of the Government I remain
on very friendly relations. Even Chamberlain, who is most apt
to feel anger at any one crossing his path, has not manifested it
this time ; and on Saturday I returned from my Cornish visit
and speeches to dine with him. As it chanced I had to take
Mrs. Chamberlain into dinner and she shewed no signs of being
ruffled. She is indeed always a charming, amiable woman, and
she was as simple, open, and friendly as ever ; and I should think
could not have heard much the other way.

The session of 1896, and indeed the whole career of the
Parliament elected in 1895, was overshadowed by foreign

334 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

affairs. In the debate on the Address, Courtney deKvered
the first of his many philippics against the Raid. " I heard
of it with disgust, and when I learned of Dr. Jameson's
defeat and surrender I gave imqualified thanks. If the
Boers chose to raise their voices in singing the sixty-eighth
Psalm, I should have joined with them heartily," The
conduct of the Colonial Secretary received a warm testi-
monial. " He has saved us from a great peril, saved our
character and our honour. He saw at once what was to be
done and did not hesitate. His action enables me to resent
the Kaiser's telegram." On his first visit to his con-
stituents he denounced " this colossal blunder, this fatal
inroad," and declared that the urgent duty of the Govern-
ment was the restoration of confidence. He had been
scarcely less amazed by Cleveland's message than by the raid ;
but Lord Salisbury had acted wisely in referring the Venezuela
boundary to arbitration, and good had come out of evil.

When the first excitement over the Transvaal and Vene-
zuela had cooled, the vaUey of the Nile began to claim atten-
tion. The pubhcly expressed desire of Gladstone and
Granville to withdraw from Egypt as soon as possible had
been shared by Lord SaUsbury ; but the Drummond Wolff
Convention of 1887, providing for evacuation, was wrecked
by France's objection to the clause conceding our claim to
re-enter in case of need. Gladstone reiterated the demand
for evacuation in 1891 ; but when, after the change of
Government in 1892, France asked for a limit to be set to
the occupation Lord Rosebery, the Foreign Secretary,
refused to discuss the question. In 1895 Sir Edward Grey
announced the decision of the Cabinet to regard any foreign
settlement on the upper reaches of the Nile as " an unfriendly
act " ; and in 1896 the Coahtion determined to advance the
Egyptian frontier to Dongola.

When Gladstone had raised the question of evacuation
in 1891 Courtney had backed up his demand. " I realise
the possible danger to Egypt from quitting it prematurely,"
he told his constituents. " We are doing a great work there,
and I should deeply regret if it was interrupted and destroyed.
But if the price of the existing system is the poisoning of

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 335

the poKtical atmosphere of Europe, we are bound to prefer
the lesser to the greater evil, and let Egypt trust to herself.
That, however, is not necessary. We could arrange with
France for a body of international police. The peace of
Europe is jeopardised by the soreness of France. Let us
remove that soreness by evacuating Egypt, as Lord Salisbury
attempted to do in 1887." The friction continued, and
Egypt was only one of the irritants. Lord Rosebery's
sentiments towards France, though by no means unfriendly,
were not exactly cordial ; and the change of Premiership in
1894 increased Courtney's ever-present fear of colonial
complications. Desiring to reassure French opinion he
appealed to Gladstone to issue a message of good-will.

From W. E. Gladstone

October 29, 1894. — I am absolutely in sympathy with the spirit
of your letter ; yet I feel much difficulty about the suggestion
which it appears to favour. All the first years of my life were
years in which a cordial understanding with France was the
avowed aim of all our best and wisest statesmen, and the senti-
ment has not died out of my heart. I make no secret of it, and
never should hesitate about expressing it, unless in the case,
unhappily not an infrequent one, when any declaration, which
can be made to appear gratuitous, is construed to be due to some
secret and unavowed motive, and the most sinister considerations
are attached to it. Naturally, after sixty-two years of public life,
I have many opinions of my own on public affairs, but I find it
necessary to be very reserved as to the expression of them. I
fear that in such a case as this a volunteered expression on my
part would be interpreted not as a contribution to national friend-
ship and the peace of Europe but as an overture or bid towards
resuming a political position. At a dinner which was given me
in Paris some years ago I endeavoured to do justice to the Re-
public as not less qualified than any preceding Government for
the discharge of international obligations. Of course I am not
minutely conversant with the present state of things, but I have
much confidence in Lord Kimberley's disposition and his dis-
cretion. From recollections extending over a great many years
between 1863 and 1894 I have derived, of course, some diversity
of impressions at one time and another, but no general mistrust
or approximation to it, and on the contrary pleasing recollections
of repeated indications of friendliness and fairness.

336 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Holding such opinions Courtney naturally opposed the
advance to Dongola, and he spoke and voted against the
Government when Labouchere raised the question on
March i6. If it meant an attempt to conquer the Sudan,
he argued, it must be condemned immediately. Egypt
possessed a very strong frontier at Wady Haifa. The
KhaUfa was weaker than the Mahdi ; and nobody in Egypt
was afraid of invasion. If it was to relieve the strain on
Kassala and assist Italy, hundreds of miles away across the
desert, that help could best be rendered through the Red
Sea. " There is danger in Europe. Why lock up your
forces in an absurd and fruitless attempt to recover that
which is valueless ? We are weakened by our position in
Egypt ; and to lock up our troops in the Sudan would in-
crease our weakness." A fortnight later he returned to the
question in an address to his constituents. The policy had
been announced, but there was still time to prevent it going
further. " When the country is once engaged, the voice of
reason is hushed. If disaster occurs, it must be avenged ;
if success, it blots out all recollection of right and wrong.
I do not desire to quit Egypt by the next mail, but to keep
evacuation in view. I wish us to keep our word. Before we
go we must have a European agreement on the terms of
withdrawal and the organisation to be substituted. England
might reserve the right of re-entry, as Lord Salisbury
reserved it in 1887. I fear we have failed to bear in mind
the necessity of training Egyptians to govern the country ;
for they are all, as it were, second-class clerks. As for the
Sudan, it is a vast desert. Gordon declared it a useless
possession ; and it would be nothing but a burden for
Egypt. If we stay in Egypt, we should get rid of the
suzerainty of Turkey, educate the people, and keep the
country isolated by the desert."

Courtney's voice carried further than that of most
Ministers and ex-Ministers ; and when Lord Rosebery
criticised his opinions at the Colchester Oyster Feast in the
autumn, he addressed a powerful letter to the Times. " Lord
Rosebery is afflicted by the Armenian horrors. We have a
right to interfere ; but we are distrusted if not detested by

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 337

every European Power, and we are weak with our swollen
Empire. The weary Titan has become a Falstaff, gorged
beyond digestion, incapable of action. Why are we so dis-
trusted and detested ? What have we been doing the last
twenty years ? Snatching at continents, pegging out
claims, interfering as missionaries of order and peace and
then settling down in permanent possession ; in short, making
up those two and a half million square miles of undigested
Empire which satisfy so powerfully the Imperiahstic instinct
and reduce us to abject impotence. Mr. Gladstone may
talk of self-denying ordinances ; but could those be trusted
at Constantinople who have not been able to prove them-
selves trustworthy at Cairo ? Is there no way of setting
ourselves right with the rest of civilised Europe, of proving
our sincerity by act as well as word ? We might surrender
Cyprus — not restoring it to Turkey but making it a ward of
Europe under a prince. But the real key to the situation
is Egypt. We must exchange our exclusive control for an
international settlement. This transfer has been rendered
infinitely more difficult by recent operations in the Sudan ;
but unless and until it is done we cannot claim the trust of
other Powers, we cannot resent their sneers at our sincerity,
we cannot hope for co-operation in any part of the East. If
Lord Salisbury would intimate his readiness for a conference
on the international settlement of Egypt, the difficulties in
the way of enforcing order at Constantinople and stopping
murder and outrage elsewhere would disappear. Never
before has an ex-Prime Minister proclaimed our incapacity
in the face of Europe. No Little Englander has ever
humiliated his country like that. Such is the triumph of
the Imperial spirit! Such is statesmanship ! " When
critics of the letter rejoined in the Times that the Powers did
not want us to leave Egypt, he retorted that in that case
Europe could make us its mandatory.

The summer of 1896 forms a dark landmark in Courtney's
life.

Journal.

May 20. — Queen's Birthday. Leonard dined with Arthur
Balfour and joined me afterwards at the Foreign Office. He

z

338 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

complained he could not see who people were ; had found reading
a difficulty the day before. Thursday came home from the House
and said it was no use his going back as he could do and say
nothing, not being able to read the amendments.

May 21. — Leonard goes to Nettleship to get new glasses and
came away much depressed. There is serious trouble in his right
eye, the only one with which he could see near objects well.
Nettleship would give no opinion at present as to recovery, but
advised him to go away to the country, take some anti-gout
medicine, and see what complete rest would do.

May 28. — L. again to Nettleship ; he would not let me go
with him. Came back very gloomy. It was difficult to extract
from him exactly what Nettleship had said ; but the impression
was that substantial recovery of sight was unlikely. We were
both very sad ; but these three days at home wholly alone,
struggling with our fate, will always be a sacred and partly a
sweet memory to me on account of his deep feeling and confidence
in me.

References to eye trouble are found as early as the 'fifties.
In her recoUections of the young Don at Cambridge Mrs.
Bushell recalls " a look of weakness in the eyes." " Let me
inquire particularly about your eyes," wrote Dr. Willan in
1859. " I shaU not post this till I have ascertained at your
house that you are allowed to read and write again. Pray
avoid all candle-light reading." The trouble, however,
passed away, and he read and wrote as much as any man of
his time. His health was magnificent ; and when the blow
fell in 1896 it came as a thimderclap. Friends and relations
hastened forward with comfort and counsel. Roby offered
to accompany him to Wiesbaden. Mr. Stebbing declared
that even if the worst happened his public career might gain
more than it lost, since he would win In sympathy what he
lost in the power of acquiring information. Mrs. Sidney
Webb implored him to make any sacrifices necessary to
recovery, since his great capacity for the " Higher Criticism "
of politics could iU be spared. " I am so very, very sorry,"
wrote Sir John Scott to Mrs. Courtney. " I wonder if all
the glare of Upper Egj^^t did harm. I used to be anxious
sometimes, but he always seemed a colossus of strength. I
trust that with immediate and complete rest it will all come

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 339

right again. But even a temporary privation of the use of
his eyes must be a terrible blow. He does such excellent
service in his independent position. Honour in foreign
pontics and good sense and moderation in home affairs have
been his two aims."

Postponing his departure for Wiesbaden till the summer
holidays, Courtney determined to continue his work as usual,
and spoke once or twice in the House. His most important
engagement was to preside at the Cobden Club dinner at
Greenwich on the jubilee of the repeal of the Com Laws.
He dictated full notes to his wife, who was prevented from
accompanying him ; but his sister, Mrs. Oliver, sat by his
side, ready to aid. His speech delighted the large number
of foreign guests and was described by Sir Charles Dilke as
magnificent.^ It was a great encouragement to find that he
could deliver an hour's address without notes and without
prompting.

The withdrawal of the Education Bill brought the end of
the session within sight, and early in July he left home to
consult Pagenstecher. He was urged to enter the Khnik and
undergo a course of treatment. The next two months were
monotonous but not unpleasant. Friends came and went,
including Sir WiUiam Harcourt and Sir John Scott, Mrs.,
Fawcett and Moberly Bell. His wife read him the Times
in the morning and more nourishing fare at night. The
patient dictated his address as President of the Economic
Section of the British Association, in which he reiterated
his emphatic conviction of the essential soundness of the
doctrines and spirit of the classical economists, and once
again proclaimed that society could only be reformed by a
blend of individual self-reliance and voluntary association.
Frequent bulletins were despatched to anxious friends who
wrote to encourage and condole.

From Mrs. Fawcett {to Mrs. Courtney)

August 3, 1896. — I am feeling so much for you both in your
disappointment about the effect of the Wiesbaden treatment.
Actual misfortune, however severe, always seems to me less hard

1 Published in the volume, Cobden and the Jubilee of Free Trade. 1896.

340 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

to bear than continued suspense and growing discouragement,
because there is something in an actual misfortune which calls
out the courage necessary to bear it. Therefore I feel that even
if the worst which you fear should happen, the present is your
saddest time, and Mr. Courtney's too. If he should lose his sight
altogether, he will have the courage to make the most and the
happiest of his Hfe and years. Harry always told me his worst
time was when there were hopes still held out to him that his
sight might be restored.

From Sir John Scott [to Mrs. Courtney)

Nauheim. — I wanted to tell you how glad I am to have seen
you and Leonard. I' had thought of so much worse things and
I am really relieved to a certain extent. Yet it is a wonderful
pity, and I am pagan enough to wish the blow had fallen on less
essentially useful persons. His force hitherto has lain in his great
knowledge and principles supported by a marvellous grasp of
detail. The latter will have to sUde a Uttle.

From A. J. Mundella

August 27, 1896. — I know it will be a trouble to you if ulti-
mately you are unable " to tear the heart out of a book " ;
but, my dear friend, you know so much already that under any
circumstances you will always know more than anybody else,
Gladstone perhaps excepted. If you are content to give more of
your own thoughts to others (as in your Education letter) at the
expense of reading less of the thoughts of other men, the world
will be the gainer and your own honour " moult no feather."
You remember the night on the Treasury bench when I and
Henry James ran away from Gladstone's interrogations. I
referred him to you, teUing him " Courtney is a walking encyclo-
pedia ; he knows everything," and so we left you together. The
old man has left us and you are left alone the sole depository of
all the knowledge that is worth knowing, and you have still
another pair of eyes and hands lovingly, devotedly, at your
service. May God long preserve them to you, and may you long
be preserved to each other ! I have an abiding conviction that
your work in the future will be higher and better than all you
have done in the past, and I am sure it will have greater weight
and influence with your fellow-countrymen.

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 341

Throughout the summer hope alternated with dis-
appointment. Pagenstecher declared that there was no
danger of total blindness ; but he could hold out httle hope
of improvement or of ability to read. After two months'
treatment a fortnight's rest was prescribed and was spent
at Konigstein in the Taunus. On his return the oculist
announced that he could do no more. The inflammation
was gone and the sight improved, but reading was still
impossible. One of the last letters from Wiesbaden was
written to the friend whose understanding sjnnpathy had
been a very present help in time of trouble.

To Mrs. Fawcett

October 8. — We are sending you back by post The Oxford
Reformers. My wife has read it to me to our great pleasure. It
presents a beautiful view of some detached characters moving
about among the general vice and cruelty of Europe. The
affectionate side of Erasmus is brought out much more than in
Froude's edition of the Letters. I think we may have to go on
to the Cloister and the Hearth if it is in Tauchnitz. My condition
has been a little improved but not very much. I am perhaps
more independent in general conduct, but for reading and writing
have to depend completely upon Kate. Good-bye, dear Mrs,
Fawcett. Our united love to you. It was most good of you to
come here.

The travellers reached home in the middle of October
after an exile of three months. Courtney was now aware
that he would never read again ; but he determined that
his terrible affliction should not interfere either with his
public activities or his personal happiness. " InabiHty to
read and write would have made a recluse and a misanthrope
of many men with his gifts and hkings," writes Mr, Steb-
bing ; " but it changed and seemed to affect none of his.
Secretaries, whose aid to him was most zealously rendered,
were hands and eyes. He needed and would accept no aid
to guide his feet. He criticised with keen zest paintings
and etchings. Remains of sight told him more than most
men's sharpest vision. And withal the joy in the rays he
kept ! Only let it not be thought that the privation marks

342 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

an abyss blocking a career, or even a start afresh. It was
the same Leonard Courtney before and after — if not a little
more heroically himself." A secretary to help with the
morning's work was found in Leo Amery, a brilhant young
Oxford scholar, in whom the old statesman discovered the
quick intelligence and knowledge of current pohtics that
he needed. With his aid he prepared an address on the
American Presidential Election which was afterwards pub-
lished in the Nineteenth Century.^

Courtney's treatment of Bryan's whirlwind campaign
offers a good illustration of his intellectual characteristics.
The unanimity and fervour with which the silver champion
was denounced produced not conviction but reaction, and
prompted him to independent study of the issues involved.
" When we remember that the defeated minority were
American citizens and amounted to a large minority, doubt
arises whether they could have been so reckless, so anarchical,
and so unrighteous as has been suggested." DeaUng first
with the popular notion that the fight was between bimetal-
list heretics and champions of the gold standard, he points
out that the Republicans desired to reach bimetallism
through co-operation with other nations, while the Demo-
crats declined to wait. Both, therefore, were for the dual
standard ; and if the Republicans were insincere, at any
rate they thought it necessary to pose. In the second place
the Democrats were only asking for a return to the practice
before 1873, when silver was freely coined into dollars and
was recognised as legal tender. Silver dollars already in
circulation had remained legal tender, and the proposal to
revert to free coinage was no greater crime than to demand
the reopening of the Indian mints. The argument that
debts contracted in gold since 1873 would be payable in
silver was deUberately misleading, since the Constitution
nullified in advance legislation altering pre-existing con-
tracts. A nation could not be forbidden to reverse a false
step. Many friends of gold in England now admitted the
mistake of demonetising silver in Frarice, Germany and the
United States ; and Everett's Resolution of February 1895

^ January 1897.

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 343

in the House of Commons, expressing increasing apprehen-
sion at the constant fluctuations and growing divergence in
the relative value of gold and silver, and urging the summon-
ing of an international conference, had been accepted by
the Government. Free silver, moreover, though the chief
plank in the Democratic programme, was far from being
the only one. " The RepubUcan platform was an appeal
to some of the worst tendencies of American democracy
and a defence of one of the most unequal and unjust systems
of taxation. Protection and jingoism were rampant all
along the Une." The Democrats stood for Free Trade —
tariff for revenue only — and for income tax, and against
trusts and monopoUes. The Republican victory was largely
the result of the conservatism of ignorance, and gave no
cause for rejoicing.

The session of 1897 began early in January in order to
deal with the relief of Voluntary Schools before the close of
the financial year. The Bill granting 5s. per head was met
by an amendment, moved by Mr. Lloyd George, for the
representation of local authorities or parents on the manage-
ment of schools receiving the relief. Courtney supported
both the grant and the amendment. Why should the
Government, he asked, shrink from this principle ? Did
Mr. Balfour himself approve of it or did he not ? When
the Leader of the House refused to reply, remarking that
its acceptance would make a new BiU and open the way to
a flood of amendments, he rejoined that the matter could
have been and could still be arranged by an understanding.
It must and will come, he added; if not now, then in a
subsequent measure. The prophecy was to be fulfilled
some years later ; and the Government preferred to meet
their critics by promising another Bill to assist the poorer
Board Schools.

The second important project of the session was the
Workmen's Compensation Bill, introduced by the Home
Secretary, Sir Matthew White Ridley, but in reaUty the work
of Chamberlain, who seized the rudder on all critical occa-
sions. The measure was disUked by large employers on
both sides of the House ; and it was obvious that agriculture

344 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

and other excepted trades would have to be included later.
The Colonial Secretary did his best to minimise the effect of
his proposals ; and despite open revolt and secret discontent
they passed through the Lower House with little alteration.
Lord Londonderry and Lord Dudley, the spokesmen, of the
coal-owners, showed their teeth in the Upper House ; but
the Birmingham influence was too formidable to resist.
Courtney was convinced that the measure would have had
no chance if introduced by a Liberal Government ; but it
aroused no enthusiasm in his breast. " Its worst fault,"
he wrote, " is that it is an illustration of the general senti-
ment creating pecuniary responsibilities when no moral
obligation is recognised, and thus, at least for a time,
corrupting moral standards and developing predatory
instincts. In the end the new burden will come to be
calculated as a trade charge, and the judgement on the
bill must depend on its effect on the moral character of
workmen."

At the beginning of the session a debate on Woman's
Suffrage excited more interest than it had done for many
years ; for the Second Reading of a Private Member's Bill
was carried for the first time. A bulletin was. promptly
despatched to Mrs, Fawcett, who was far away in Athens.

Mrs. Courtney to Mrs. Fawcett

February 12, 1897. — ^The speaking was very bad except
George Wyndham. Jebb was good, but somehow the House was
tired and talked, and I was getting very sad that Leonard never
came in from his Indian Committee, as he said he should leave
the talk to the younger men. Then Harcourt got up and made
one of his most pompous speeches ; but it was so much better in
style and voice that I feared it would have influence over the
fluid-minded, of whom every one said there were so many. How-
ever, Leonard got in ten minutes and put on his most impressive
manner, which I think was as good as Harcourt's. We feared
the Closure Division would have defeated us and no one seemed
to know how it would go. The Speaker told me he thought we
should have lost. So you may imagine our joy and astonish-
ment at the result. As to the future it is not likely to go much
further.

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 345

The main interest of the session of 1897, as of 1896, was
in foreign affairs. The Cretan revolt flamed into a Greco-
Turkish war, in regard to which British opinion was divided.
Though the Prime Minister frankly confessed that in the
Crimean War we had put our money on the wrong horse,
there was still a good deal of Turcophil sentiment in society
and the clubs. Courtney's sympathies were naturally with
Greece, and he believed that Lord Salisbury, who was no
friend of the Turk, might have gained more than autonomy.
Crete, he declared to his constituents in April, had a right
to join Greece. Italy and perhaps France would have
joined us in insisting on her severance from Turkey,
even if Russia, Germany and Austria had stood aloof.
The Concert was paralysed and Great Britain should act
without it.

A more prolonged excitement was afforded by the
Committee on the Jameson Raid. The Cape Parliament
had already held an inquiry into the conduct of Rhodes,
who, it reported, was thoroughly acquainted with the
preparations but did not order or approve the Raid at
that particular moment. Since Rhodes accepted the Cape
Report the main duty of the Committee which met on
January 16 was to institute a searching investigation into
the relations of the Colonial Office with the Chartered
Company and Johannesburg ; but this was precisely what
it omitted to do. Its proceedings were followed by Court-
ney, who had specialised in South African politics for
twenty years, with strained attention. " On the first day
Rhodes was a very bad witness, confused, uncertain, shifty,"
he wrote on the conclusion of the drama ; ^ " but on the
second he seemed to have recovered himself, to have
measured his enemies, and to be rather the master of the
Committee than their subject. Harcourt's style of examina-
tion was pompous and ineffective. Blake proved the most
efficient member for purposes of examination. Labouchere
did injury to the cause he desired to serve. On the other
side Hicks-Beach was ready and direct in his questions,
while Chamberlain astonished his friends by his imprudences.

* In the Journal.

346 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

George Wyndham shewed a singular personal devotion to
Rhodes throughout. Jackson, the Chairman, was ill at the
commencement, and never got a proper mastery of the
work." The Committee completed the evidence by Whit-
suntide ; but after the recess it recalled Flora Shaw, whose
interchange of telegrams with Rhodes and Rutherfoord
Harris, the Secretary of the Chartered Company, appeared
to connect the Colonial Secretary with the Raid. Suspicion
was increased when it was announced that the Committee
could neither secure the attendance of Rutherfoord Harris
nor find out where he was, and that Mr. Hawksley, the
soHcitor to the Chartered Company, possessed some tele-
grams which he refused to produce. Edward Blake
withdrew in disgust, while Labouchere drew up a Report
declaring that inquiry was fruitless owing to the refusal of
information, and regretting that the alleged compHcity of
the Colonial Office was not disproved by searching examina-
tion. The Majority Report sharply condemned Rhodes, but
pronounced that neither the Colonial Secretary nor any of
his subordinate officials had any knowledge of the Raid.

On the pubUcation of the Report Sir Wilfrid Lawson at
once asked for a day for its discussion, to which Mr. Balfour
repUed that no useful purpose would be served. Labou-
chere therefore attempted to raise the question of privilege.
Since Mr. Hawksley had refused documents demanded by
the Committee, was not any member entitled to move that
he should be brought to the bar of the House ? The Speaker
rephed that there was no precedent for such a course and
that the Committee had not urged it. Courtney then asked
whether there was any precedent for a Committee neglecting
to make such a demand under such peculiar conditions, and
whether the House had lost its privilege merely because the
Committee had failed to do its duty. It looked as if there
would be no debate ; but Amold-Forster rose to demand
a full discussion, attacking Rhodes, " who has Ughted a
brand which will probably flame for another century," and
condemning the Report. Mr. Balfour angrily rejoined that
if a debate was desired why did not the Opposition demand
it ? Harcourt had now no choice but to ask for a day,

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 347

which was promptly gran':ed, and Phihp Stanhope gave
notice of a resolution regretting the inconclusive action and
report of the Select Committee and ordering Hawksley to
attend the House and produce the telegrams.

The sensational feature of the debate on July 26 was
Chamberlain's confession that in signing the Report he had
gone further than he wished in order to secure unanimity,
and that Rhodes had done nothing inconsistent with his
personal honour. The cowardice of the Committee was
fiercely denounced by Labouchere ; but by general consent
the most impressive utterance was that of Leonard Court-
ney. After warmly acquitting Chamberlain of any com-
pUcity in the designs or actions of Jameson or Rhodes,^ he
denoimced the Committee for its failure to make his
innocence clear beyond cavil. Rhodes had deceived every
one from first to last, and was indeed steeped in deceit. He
was still open to a prosecution both in England and South
Africa ; but there were also duties for the Government and
the House to perform. "It is necessary that we should
clear ourselves absolutely of the past. If you wish to
establish the reputation of this country, if you wish to make
unsulUed the honour of our statesmen, you ought to shew
that in the^ judgemefit of this House and of this nation it
is not to be tolerated that his name should remain on the
Privy Council." The second task was to summon Mr.
Hawksley to the bar and compel the production of the
missing telegrams. " We can then face the world with the
consciousness that no ground of suspicion has remained
unexplored and no attack has been made which has not
met with exposure. I maintain my fuU conviction of the
innocence of the Colonial Secretary ; but I am bound to
say that his own acts and the action of the Committee
were calculated to encourage the suspicion of those who
have not the knowledge of his character that we possess.
Surely a great error in judgement has been committed. It
may be that this Resolution wiU be defeated by a large
majority (Ministerial cheers). That wiU not affect the

^ George Wyndham told Wilfrid Blunt that Chamberlain was " in
with Jameson and Rhodes " in regard to the Raid. — Blunt, Diaries, i. 279.

348 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

judgement of posterity (Opposition cheers). Nor will it
affect my judgement (ironical cheers). Nor wiU it affect
the judgement of millions of your fellow-countrymen here
(Opposition cheers). Nor wiU it affect the judgement of
those foreigners abroad (Ministerial laughter) of whom the
Chancellor of the Exchequer speaks with British contempt.
If one has the pain of isolation, one may at least have
something of its reward and freedom. I for my part shall
have no hesitation, whatever the numbers against me, in
going into the Lobby in support of the motion " (Oppo-
sition cheers and Ministerial ironical laughter). The motion
was lost by 304 to ']'] and Courtney's advice was rejected ;
but a bad day's work had been done for the fame of the
British Empire and for the peace of South Africa.

Journal

I sat in Mrs. GuUy's gallery, and a very exciting evening it
was. She had labelled the seats so that wives whose husbands
were making strong speeches against each other should not sit
together. I was between Mrs. Asquith and Mrs. Labouchere.
The former was loud in praise of L., and Lady Frances Balfour
spoke of it as his greatest effort this session. Anyhow it simply
infuriated Chamberlain, who made a very clever and biting speech,
turning almost entirely to L. and hissing out his words at him
almost like a snake. And yet I thought L. rather unnecessarily
proclaimed his conviction of his entire innocence. I neither
beheve nor disbelieve.

The power and sincerity of the speech impressed even
those who disagreed with his Une of argument.

From Sir James Knowles

August 4. — I cannot be writing to you and not say what I
have been saying everywhere. It was the first speech I have
heard for many years in the House of Commons. It did me good
to hear it, as shewing that real and passionate oratory is not after
all extinct there as, since the great speeches of Gladstone, I had
come to think. And what I felt others felt also, e.g. Austen
Chamberlain. Neither he nor I shared your point of view ; but
that had nothing to do with our delighted admiration.

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 349

At the close of the session Courtney set off for a second
sojourn in Pagenstecher's Klinik ; and early in September
he was informed that nothing more could be done for him.
There was no danger of the sight growing worse, and with
time it might possibly improve. He was rewarded for his
internment at Wiesbaden by one of the most interesting
hohdays of his hfe. TravelUng by Vienna, where he saw
Goluchowski, the Foreign Minister, and Lavino, the cele-
brated correspondent of the Times, he took ship at Trieste
for Patras, among his fellow-passengers being Count Burian,
the newly-appointed Minister to Greece. At Athens he
entrusted himself to the keeping of his friend Sir Edwin
Egerton, the British Minister. His first visit was to the
King, who was residing at his country home at Tatoi. The
war was over, but the defeated country was stiU rocking
on its foundations.

Journal (dictated)

He spoke fluently in good familiar English, wrong accents
shewing that he was a foreigner but rarely at a loss for a word.
" You have come at a very grave time," he began ; and for some
time he allowed no opportunity of interjecting an observation,
so full was he of the situation. It was rather a monotonous
complaint that the Greeks had no friends. Everybody else had
had friends and protectors — Bulgarians, Serbians, Turks. Even
in Crete nothing was done, though everything had been promised.
During the thirty odd years of his reign there had been almost
annually disturbances in Crete, and Greece always suffered. Now
they were overwhelmed with Thessalian refugees. The burden
was terrible. They had never been consulted about the negotia-
tions, and he did not know whether the Assembly would accept
the treaty. He shewed great feeling against Germany and said
it was all very well giving way to her ; but that might produce
constantly increasing demands and a worse situation in the long
run. I spoke soothingly of the popular feeling in England and
expressed my belief that there was also much S5mipathy in France,
though she had unhappily got lost in the alliance. He repUed
that Hanotaux had threatened that even Crete could not be free.
I said that if the Powers went back in respect of Crete they would
be dishonoured, and I told him that I had spoken myself on the
duty of insisting on Cretan independence. He said he had told
Dilke all his views in Paris last year, and expressed a high opinion

350 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

of his knowledge and experience. I said it was a loss that he
could not be in a responsible position. The conversation then
reverted to more ordinary matters, such as his vineyards. At
last I said. Your Majesty is giving me a good deal of your time.
Presently he rose. Passing a bookshelf in the corridor he put his
hand upon a volume and said, " Here is Dilke's book." I
ventured to ask whether he saw the Nineteenth Century. He
said he had it regularly. I said the last number had an article
of mine. " I shall read it with more interest after seeing you,"
he repUed ; and so with mutual thanks we parted.

A day or two later the traveller visited Skoloudis, the
Foreign Minister, who remarked that they were all very
grateful for what he had said and done on behalf of Greece.
" I was a little surprised, and answered that I had said
little and done less, to which he replied it had all been
observed and welcomed. He thought the Balkan question
could be settled if an honest broker intervened. If such an
arbiter went to the different States and found out the
pretensions of each he might make a distribution which
would be accepted by aU. Mr. Gladstone had once thrown
out the idea of a Balkan Confederation, and he thought it
might be accomplished. I repUed that in my opinion the
Cretan question should be severed absolutely from the
Balkan, and that I was prepared as the price of hberating
Crete to concur in action preventing for some time at least
any movement in the Balkans. He assented, saying that
the Balkan solution he was thinking of might be a matter
of ten or twenty years." His next visit was to Ralli, who
had taken office in order to make peace. The Prime Minister,
who impressed him as a clear-sighted and energetic man,
complained of the terrible treaty. " How Great Britain
could have assented to and indeed suggested the Control
was inexplicable. I observed that it might be a light or a
heavy matter. If the required payments were pimctually
made, it would practically do nothing. He said,' No ! No !
the Control has a right to participation in all excess values ;
consequently whether revenues can be increased or expenses
cut down are matters for it, and the leading voice wiU come
from Germany. One or two Powers have already intimated

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 351

a doubt whether they would send representatives. England
is comparatively indifferent. Such constant and pervading
interference will be worse than the occupation of Thessaly,"
On the following day the Chamber met to discuss the treaty,
and the British PhUhellene watched the proceedings from
the Diplomatic tribune, with the Legation interpreter at
his elbow. The Chamber was quiet and orderly, but after
his departure Delyannis carried a vote of no confidence in
his successors, and Zaimis was at once installed in office.
He had formed a pleasant impression of the Greeks, and
carried home a deeper knowledge of Greek poUtics than
Lord Salisbury himself possessed.

On his return he delivered an address to his constituents,
warmly defending the cause of Greece. " I found in Athens
a sober people, grave, self-restrained, though discouraged
and cured of any flightiness. I attended the National
Assembly, which had to consider the terms of peace agreed
upon by the Powers, and I never saw a more business-like
or orderly body." It was said they deserved their fate.
He, at any rate, should not condemn them, for they saw
their brothers across a few miles of sea subject to the tyranny
from which they had escaped. The Cretan question was
but part of the great drama of the Near East. Though it
might not be free to-morrow, the day of its Hberation could
not be delayed. Lord SaUsbury ought to have plainly told
the other Powers that the island was ripe for freedom and
asked them to join in informing the Sultan of their decision.
The invitation might have been rejected, and he did not
blame the Prime Minister, who had secured complete
autonomy, and had saved Greece from the loss of territory.
The Greeks had been defeated by the Turkish armies, but
they had won liberty for their brothers by their magnificent
imprudence.

From Herbert Paul

October 29, 1897. — I cannot resist the pleasure of expressing
my hearty admiration for your noble speech at Torpoint. Nothing
has disgusted me more in the whole of this latest phase of the
eternal Eastern Question than the new, and what used to be
considered un-English, habit of kicking people when they are

352 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

down. Your splendid vindication of the Greeks will be read all
over Europe, and will do something to redeem the honour of
British statesmanship. I only wish the leaders of our own party
had spoken out ^\ith equal wisdom and courage.

Courtney's independent speeches on Education and
South Africa, Egypt and Greece, made his political position
a theme of lively discussion in the Press. Unionists natur-
ally resented the activities of the candid friend. "If he
would only rejoin the Radicals," sneered Colonel Saunderson,
" I should always be sure of meeting him in the Unionist
lobby." The Daily Mail, in one of its Letters to Leaders,
called him an umpire who always gave his own side out.
The Liberal Press, not less naturally, was loud in his praises.
" When Mr. Samuel Whitbread retired," wrote the Echo
in a character sketch, " his place as the vir pietate gravis of
the House was at once taken by Leonard Courtney. He
has become its most useful member." The Daily Chronicle,
then at the zenith of its influence under the guidance of
Mr. Massingham, issued something like a formal invitation
to rejoin his old comrades. " We gain more from him of
solid reasoning, ample information and a certain large and
luminous view than from any other public man. One might
say of him what Gladstone said of MiU, that he is the con-
science of the House of Commons. We know of no one
who so adequately fills the position in public Ufe formerly
occupied by Mill. He is always determined to look all
round every question, and he will not be put off by claptrap
or rhetoric, by class or even national bias. If occasionally
he conveys the impression of lecturing the House or being
righteous overmuch, that is a pardonable attitude for a
trained intellect and a resolute character. He cannot be
altogether happy with his present associates. He is Liberal
in every fibre of his moral being. We could not name any
pubHc man on the Liberal side, unless it be Mr. Morley, who
is a better representative of all that Liberalism means and
has meant to the world. Will he not join the Liberal
party ? " The growing severance from the Coalition was
felt no less in Cheyne Walk than in Fleet Street. " Unless
Gerald Balfour's forthcoming Irish Local Government Bill

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 353

pulls him into work with the Unionist party," wrote his
wife in her Journal, " it seems to me he must get more
separated. However, the only thing is to take every event
as it comes."

The Irish Bill of i8g8, which Courtney had demanded
for nearly twenty years, contained no provision for pro-
portional representation, but in aU other respects it secured
his approval and active support. An amendment to the
Address demanding a Catholic University provided a fresh
opportunity for displaying his sympathy with every Irish
demand save Home Rule. He had hoped that Trinity
College would be frequented by Catholics after Fawcett's
Bill had thrown it completely open in 1873; but he had
been disappointed. He regretted equally that the Queen's
Colleges had been condemned by the Church. He was still
a friend of undenominational education ; but he was ready
to support a University for Catholics in which non-CathoUcs
were permitted to study, to win prizes or to sit on the
governing body. Such a scheme, he believed, could be
carried. It was sound advice ; and in solving the problem
more than twenty years later Mr. Birrell followed the course
he had marked out. While, however, he recognised the
justice of the claim to a University which Catholics could
frequent with the fuU approval of the Church, he declined
to accept the verdict of the Childers Commission that
Ireland was overtaxed, bluntly remarking that the excessive
consumption of spirits, to which the apparent injustice was
due, was entirely her own choice.

While the legislative harvest of the session of 1898
secured his approval, Courtney was fiUed with apprehension
by the thunder-clouds gathering in different parts of the
world, and by the growth of an ugly temper in the British
Isles, A storm of anger broke out when Russia seized Port
Arthur, and Lord Salisbury was fiercely denounced in the
Press for taking no steps to restrain Russian aggression.
Though condemning the annexation of Wei-hai-Wei,
Courtney as usual defended the Prime Minister against his
mutinous pack ; but he argued that the solution of the
Far Eastern question was to be found not in land-grabbing,

2 A

354 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

but in an international compact for free trade and the open
door — a policy of wisdom soon to be proclaimed from the
housetops by Secretary Hay. What might have happened
had Port Arthur been in the sphere of the Colonial Office
was too terrible to contemplate. Though the danger of
war with Russia was averted by the self-control of the
Prime Minister, who was also Foreign Secretary, colonial
expansion in Africa had led to continued friction with
France, and in the spring of 1898 a crisis seemed to be at
hand.

Journal

March. — Everywhere one hears talk of war. Mr. C. is a
terrible man for Colonial Secretary just now. " Pushful Joe,"
as the Westminster calls him. Some weeks ago he sent the press
and the public into excitement over the West African hinterland,
reading some telegrams in theatrical style the last thing one
evening in the House. And I fear he has captured a good section
of the press. Lord Salisbury' calmed us all down by a pretty
straight denial of tension with France ; but the general feeling
does not stamp on this folly, and a good many of the Liberal
papers and members carp at all concessions. Those who do see
the other side of the picture are fearful of precipitating what
they dread by words which may deceive France as to the feeling
of the Government and perhaps the nation. John Morley came
to consult L. before speaking at Leicester, which he did strongly
and very wisely.

Courtney uttered a vigorous protest against the rising
tide of jingoism in addressing his constituents during the
Easter recess. " I believe there is no danger of war with
Russia," he began ; " but there has been real danger of
war with France. Complaints have been made of late that
she has been unfriendly in Siam, Tunis, Madagascar, New-
foundland, and elsewhere, and people complain that Lord
SaUsbury is too yielding to her. I have a very high opinion
of him. He has a large spirit, equable temper and great
experience, and nobody could replace him. Serious men
in London have been occupied with the thought that we
may find ourselves at war about the west coast of Africa.
France and ourselves may without boasting say we are the

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 355

most prominent civilised nations of the world, though
perhaps the United States shows greater promise for the
future. Would it not be a terrible scandal if we should find
ourselves at war unless there is some really substantial
ground of complaint ? Sierra Leone is a death-trap and
the trade of West Africa is a trifle. As the result of the
scramble for Africa the doctrine of Hinterland has arisen
and the frontiers have got mixed up. A Commission has
been sitting in Paris, and has made progress ; but there is a
danger lest some energetic agent on the spot should start a
conflagration. If the Commission fails to agree, why not
submit the disputed issue to arbitration ? "

While British and French Hotspurs were spitting fire at
each other, war broke out between Spain and the United
States, When the Maine was destroyed in the harbour of
Havana, Courtney was invited to state his views in the
Daily Chronicle, and vainly attempted to pour oil on the
raging waters. There was absolutely no reason for war,
he pointed out ; for Spain had changed her Ministry, and
had promised autonomy to Cuba. He did not for a moment
believe that the Maine had been blown up, and the cause
of the occurrence should be impartially determined. Similar
appeals to reason were made by eminent American citizens
of the type of Charles Eliot Norton ; but the fate of the
Maine set the passions of the Republic ablaze. The conflict
was soon over, and at the end of August he was pressed by
an American journal {The Independent) to express his opinion
on the result. In impressive tones he warns his trans-
atlantic readers against the foundation of an overseas
Empire and the allurements of Imperialism. " I recognise
the sympathy which called for the use of force to end mis-
government in Cuba. But if the United States are in no
danger of attack and contemplate war only as the fulfilment
of the obligation of the strong to succour the weak, nothing
which has occurred during the last six months should pro-
voke men to depart from the standing policy of the Repubhc.
The conquest of the Philippines leads people to say that
something must be kept for the sake of American commerce
in the Pacific. The crusading spirit has vanished, and the

356 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

Imperialist has taken the place of the Liberator. There is
no need of overseas territory for an overflowing population.
' The pity on't ' is the final feeling of a friendly Englishman
musing over the possible outcome of the Cuban War. But
I do not yet abandon hope of a renunciation of the greed of
conquest, making the Republic an example of self-restraint."
Among the crowding events of the summer of 1898 was
the Tsar's Rescript on disarmament, issued while Courtney
was holiday-making in the Tirol. His first speech to his
constituents after his return was devoted to a warm welcome
to the proposal which had arrested the attention of the
world. " The secret if not the spoken question of many men
is. Who can believe in the sincerity of the Tsar ? Can any-
thing good come out of Russia ? I have no difficulty in
accepting his action as sincere. Alexander I. conceived the
idea of establishing among the monarchs of Europe the
bonds of perpetual peace. Alexander II. emancipated the
serfs. Alexander III. kept the peace unbroken. Any one
who detects mere selfishness, a mere attempt to overreach
other nations in the act of Nicholas II. is blind. Whether
practicable or illusory, it is a noble and worthy proposal.
But is it practicable ? The answer depends mainly on
ourselves. The conception lacks completeness ; for it is
impossible to build peace and disarmament on a status quo
which involves so many injustices. A general agreement is
unHkely ; but agreement for the reduction of armaments
and for recourse to arbitration between two, three or more
States would be a useful beginning. The limitation of
arbitrary action is the essence of the task to which the Tsar
summons us. Let us not be content to meet it with a burst
of admiration to-day and then to-morrow resort to arms
instead of to law in the first quarrel in which we are in-
volved." The speech was one of the first welcoming
utterances in England ; and when Stead showed it to the
Tsar ten days later at Livadia, he was met with the reply,
" I read it to my wife last night." Though joining in the
solemn protest against Russian encroachments on the
constitutional liberties of Finland, Courtney actively co-
operated in the educational campaign, organised by the

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 357

indefatigable editor of the Review of Reviews. He took
Mr. Morley's place as principal speaker at a great demonstra-
tion at Queen's Hall in the spring of 1899, and an article
in the May number of the Contemporary Review offered some
practical advice to the Conference. The Umitation of
armaments, he argued, was useless when imposed by force,
as on Prussia after Jena and on Russia after the Crimean
War, but of enduring value when freely accepted by both
parties, as in the neutralisation of the frontier between
Canada and the United States. He was more hopeful of
the revival of Lord Clarendon's suggestion to the Powers
assembled at Paris in 1856 that in the event of a dispute
the other Powers should be invited to mediate before
hostilities were begun. Such a covenant would almost
certainly have prevented the Spanish-American War of
1898, if not the Franco-German War of 1870, " We cannot
go to the Hague in a sanguine spirit ; but we shall escape
the responsibilities of failure if we work for its success in
singleness of spirit."

A far more urgent issue was raised When Kitchener,
fresh from his overwhelming victory at Omdurman, marched
south and found the French flag flying at Fashoda. The
West African crisis of the spring had been amicably settled ;
but the struggle for the valley of the Nile was of old standing
and was embittered for France by the memory of lost
opportunities and defeat. In despatching the Marchand
mission from West Africa the French Government had
taken a very grave step ; for Sir Edward Grey's warning of
1895 had been more than once repeated by Lord Salisbury,
and the advance to Dongola in 1896 suggested that there
would be no halting till the whole of the Sudan was re-
covered. France had therefore no ground for surprise
when the Major was politely but firmly requested by the
British General to haul down his flag.

During the days of breathless suspense when the French
Cabinet was deciding whether to submit or to fight, Courtney
discussed the situation with his constituents at Bodmin.
He began by reiterating his disapproval of the reconquest
of the Sudan. To obtain and retain those " worthless and

358 LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

worse than worthless provinces " was to the interest neither
of Egypt nor of England. The enterprise had proved less
difficult than he had expected ; but the cheap price of mihtary
success had nothing to do with the wisdom or unwisdom of
the poUcy. The issue of the moment, however, was not the
reconquest of the Sudan but the danger of war with France.
He was a lover of France ; but in the last two years she had
caused him a good deal of anxiety. Much had happened
that inspired regret, and the Drej^us case had shown that
the military element was far too powerful. In the present
controversy England was in the right, and we could fairly
claim that Major Marchand should lower his flag and that
Fashoda should not be French territory. We should, how-
ever, put ourselves in the wrong if we were to expel him by
force without listening to argument. France maintained
that the Sudan belonged to the Khedive, and that in claim-
ing the whole valley of the Nile Great Britain was usurping
his powers. Our action had been hke that of a man who
erects a board in a field with the notice. Trespassers will be
prosecuted. But that is merely a claim to ownership,
which, if disputed, must be settled in court. He hoped and
beheved that France would yield ; but if she refused to
evacuate Fashoda, every means of peaceful settlement must
be exhausted before recourse was had to arms. " My last
word is a protest against the assumption that there is no
other method of settling the difference than by compelling
her to give way by superior force." Fortunately Delcasse
had recently been installed in the Quai d'Orsay, and the
French Cabinet wisely decided to withdraw from the Nile
Valley and to look for compensations elsewhere. Courtney's
plea for sanity was read with profound gratitude by moderate
men in France, among them a friend whose mastery of the
Enghsh language no less than of EngHsh hterature made
him a natural mediator between the two countries in
moments of excitement.

From J. Jusserand

November 8, 1898. — I found on coming home after a short and
only too needed time of rest the paper you kindly sent me. I

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 359

read with the deepest sympathy the most sensible and true speech
that was pronounced on that very sad question ; a speech not
the less manly because it was human. You said the absolute
truth, and I think that if ever there was a question for discussion
this was the one. It seems unbelievable that one of the two
interested countries shows herself bent upon war and makes even
now all preparations for it, when it is remembered that the
territory in question belonged altogether for some ten years to
Egypt, that it has been given up fifteen years ago, and that, when
it was part of Egypt, that country was under an Anglo-French
condominium. Is it not strange that the affair has been practi-
cally managed not at all as it seems by Government but by
a " yellow press " which was supposed to exist only in other
countries, and at a time when there are Cecils left ? I hope your
wise and just appreciation of the case will not soon be forgotten,
and I, for one, will ever gratefully remember it. Best compli-
ments to Mrs. Courtney from us both.

Neither the victory of Omdurman nor the pacific solution
of the Fashoda crisis modified Courtney's view ; and when
Mr. Morley discussed the policy at the opening of the session
of 1899 he was supported by his brother-in-arms. The
conquest of the Sudan, he declared, was to be condemned
in the interests both of England and of Egypt. Our arm
would be weakened by locking up part of our forces and by
the embitterment of the standing feud with France. It
was quite untrue to declare that the control of the whole
course of the Nile was necessary to our hold on Egypt ; for
Eg3^t and the Sudan had seldom belonged to the same
ruler, and Egypt's southern frontier was defended by the
desert. The critics were supported with voice and vote
by Campbell-Bannerman, who succeeded Harcourt as the
Liberal leader shortly before Christmas, and opposed with
vote and voice by Sir Edward Grey. The division was
prophetic of the struggle for the soul of the Liberal party
which was to break out before the New Year had closed.

Courtney's deep conviction that tropical territories were
more trouble than they were worth was illustrated in his
Presidential Address to the Royal Statistical Society, de-
livered on December 13. " An Experiment on Commercial
Expansion " dealt with the Belgian attempt to open up new

36o LIFE OF LORD COURTNEY chap.

markets. Merely glancing at the inhumanities of the white
men, the story of which was at that time not fully known,
he reviews the situation from the neutral standpoint of an
economist, and presents a balance-sheet of deficits and dis-
appointment. " The result is sadly disproportionate to the
anticipations of the enterprise. The value of the outlet
for commerce is no more significant than the value of the
outlet for men. A greater, more certain, more durable
change would have been effected had missionaries, Catholic
and Protestant, Belgian, English and American, been
allowed to pursue their labours in peace. King Leopold
would not be at the head of a region equal to Western
Europe ; but a score of Livingstones, if such a number could
be obtained, would effect a more enduring triumph."

The session of 1899 opened quietly with the introduction
of the London Government Bill by Mr. Balfour, creating
boroughs with a Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors, and
entrusting to them the duties performed by the Vestries
and other minor boards. The Chairman of the Unification
Committee naturally regretted that the City remained un-
touched ; but he blessed the measure on its Second Reading
as a valuable instalment. In Committee his main efforts
were directed to championing the rights of women to share
in the burdens and privileges of local administration. A
motion excluding women from the position of Alderman
and Mayor was carried by 155 to 124 ; but on Report he
carried their claim to be Aldermen and Councillors by 196
to 161. Though Lord Salisbury for once supported the
cause of progress, the Lords struck out the amendment.
When the measure returned to the House of Commons
Courtney proposed that women should be eligible as Coun-
cillors though not as Aldermen ; but this compromise was
opposed by the Government and defeated.

The most notable domestic debate of the session arose on
the Budget, which partially suspended the Sinking Fund
on the ground that Consols could only be redeemed at an
extravagant price. A damaging attack came from Harcourt,
who, though he had resigned the leadership of his party,
spoke with the authority of an ex - Chancellor of the

XVI THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM 361

Exchequer. But the most impressive feature of the dis-
cussion was Courtney's grave appeal to the House to regard
the action of the Government in large perspective. A
technical analysis of the Budget was followed by a philo-
sophic survey of the industrial and political situation. We
had narrowly escaped a great war in the previous year, and
the world was full of rivalry and bitterness. Nothing but
war could justify an arrest of the reduction of debt, and a
steady diminution of our burden was the best financial
preparation for a possible conflict. But even if perpetual
peace were assured, he should oppose the raid on the Sinking
Fund. Our commercial superiority was coming to an end,
for the United States, with their unlimited supplies of raw
materials and their teeming population, were passing us in
the race. Jevons's forecast of the approaching exhaustion
of our coal, which he had chosen for the theme of his Presi-
dential Address to the Statistical Society in 1897, was being
confirmed by experience ; and his advice to prepare for the
years of increasing strain by paying off debt was as sound
in 1899 as in 1866. "If we entertain apprehensions in
regard to the struggle for industrial supremacy, now is the
time — when we are most prosperous and have abundant
occupation for our people — to prepare for the future by
removing the impediments which may hinder us in the
struggle for Ufe." The House, we are told, hstened spell-
bound to the warning ; but its receptive moods are always
transient, and the suspension of the Sinking Fund was
carried by the normal majority. A few weeks later the
skies darkened rapidly, and the prophecies of Cassandra
were recalled by some who had paid little heed to them on
a bright afternoon in May.

CHAPTER XVII

THE BURSTING OF THE STORM

Throughout his Parliamentary career Courtney had been
the most vigilant observer and the most effective critic of
British poHcy in South Africa. He had protested against
the annexation of the Transvaal without the consent of its
inhabitants. He had urged Gladstone to restore its inde-
pendence without waiting for a rebellion. He had adjured
the SaHsbury Government to record its disapproval of the
Raid by excluding Rhodes from the Privy Coimcil. He
had demanded that the cloud of suspicion should be dis-
pelled by the production of the Hawksley telegrams. In
every case his advice was neglected, with disastrous cumula-
tive results to the peace of the world. Careful steering was
more than ever needed after the Raid ; but the new pilot
was ill-fitted by temperament for a situation that required
not only firmness but patience and tact. Only a few weeks
after he had given his testimonial to Rhodes as a man of
honour. Chamberlain hghted another fuse by reviving the
claim to suzerainty, which was deliberately omitted by
Lord Derby in the Convention of 1884, and to which no
appeal was made by British statesmen in the following
thirteen years. In the light of these facts it was not surpris-
ing that the Transvaal and Orange Free State should form
an alliance in 1897, that arms and ammunition should be
ordered from Europe, and that Kruger should be re-elected
in 1898 by an overwhelming majority, many Boers voting
for him as the symbol of national independence who had
voted for and almost succeeded in electing the progressive

362

CHAP. XVII THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 363

Joubert in 1893. Krugerism was dying when the Raid
gave it a new lease of Ufe.

Since the discovery of gold in 1886 Transvaal politics
had revolved in a vicious circle. An army of speculators
and miners swarmed into the midst of a conservative farm-
ing community, and a great cosmopolitan city arose within
forty miles of Pretoria. Fearing that the immigrants would
swamp the hardly won national hfe of the Boers through
sheer weight of numbers, the President excluded the new-
comers, whom he regarded as mere birds of passage, from
any share in the poHtical control of the country. Had the
Government been reasonably efficient, the anomaly might
have been tolerated ; but the regime was corrupt as well as
reactionary. In 1894 Lord Loch, the High Commissioner,
visited Pretoria and informed the President that he must
make concessions. The warning was unheeded, and the
Raid was the result. Kruger's suspicions of British designs
on the independence of the Transvaal having in turn
hardened into certainty, he was more determined than ever
to keep the immigrants from setting foot within the citadel
of power. Meanwhile the resentment of the Outlanders
grew into hot anger, and in Sir Alfred Milner, who succeeded
Lord Rosmead as High Commissioner in 1897, they found a
far more powerful champion than Jameson or Rhodes.
The " helots " drew up a monster petition to the British
Government for the redress of their grievances, and the
Cabinet, after full deHberation, resolved to adopt and press
their claims. Sir Alfred